All The World's A Game
by HardHatRocker
Summary: Yet, the Dovahkiin is merely a player. After solving all of Skyrim's issues, Torga opens an Elder Scroll in hopes of finding a new adventure to alleviate the boredom. Yet when he finds himself pinned to a tree by a golden spear, wearing not nearly enough armour, he realizes he may have gotten more than he asked for. Gamer!Dovahkiin. Tutorial Complete!
1. Prologue

**Welcome!**

 **Come one, come all, come and read what I decided to write while bored at work one day. I love Skyrim, I love RWBY, and I think I've read every good 'The Gamer' fic out there so now here I am making my own.**

 **I'm always looking for someone to beta-read my work, so if anybody is interested, please let me know.**

 **I also don't typically do Author's Notes, so I'm really out of things to say.**

 **Review if you feel like it, or even if you don't feel like it. I got about 6 reviews for 40k+ words on my last story so I don't really expect it. I'm also not going to promise on an update schedule, at least not until there's some interest in the fic.**

 **Other than that, enjoy the story! Or don't, but if you don't enjoy it and read it anyways, you're kinda odd.**

 **HHR, OUT!**

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" _Our hero, our hero, the Dragonborn comes."_

I still haven't figured out who wrote that damn song about me, but whoever it is deserves a very large, and very sharp sword. In and around the face area.

I never asked to be a hero. I never asked for the situations I was thrust into, where it was kill or be killed. Mostly, I never asked to have the fate of the world thrown onto my shoulders, yet bear the burden I did. For if I hadn't, who else would have?

I digress. My name is Torga. No last name, not that I know of. Over the course of my life I had accrued many names but Torga has stayed throughout. I am a Nordic male from the small town of Riverwood. I worked at a mill for a nice old lady named Gerdur. She was kind, if boring beyond all belief. Back then, I hadn't thought a second about the lack of excitement in her life. I was just an honourable Nord with the intentions of earning honest coin and drinking the days away.

Then I became the Dragonborn after almost getting my head cut off and witnessing the beginning of the end of the world. Cue the complete change of lifestyle.

Whereas at the onset of my 20th year on Nirn I had been a mellow man simply trying to eke out a living, I am now a warrior the likes of which had apparently not been seen for years. A hero.

I'd simply been scouting out some more trees to float down the river to the mill when I was assailed from all sides by fucking Legionnaires. Apparently I had walked into an ambush, and despite being clad in simple garb and having naught on me but an axe, I was a Stormcloak spy. That actually was the most logical conclusion reached that day, and by those half-wits in skirts no less. Then that bastard Alduin showed up, destroyed the town and ironically saved my I killed him. Quite literally argued him to death.

In fact, I killed him, then he was too craven to face his death like a _dovah_ so I chased him to Sovngarde and killed him again. Since then it's been my go-to intimidation phrase. Just imagine a tall man walking up to you with the legendary Wuuthrad strapped to his back, and full steel plate armour hiding all of his features.

"Bitch, I'll cut off your head then follow you to the afterlife so I can do it again."

Usually got me what I wanted.

Anyways, the chase to find the scaled kitten that was apparently the "Eater of Worlds" was stupid. Underground caverns, invading the Thalmor Embassy, going _back in time_. It was crazy. But I did it, because destiny or something like that.

The Civil War was much easier to deal with. After completely ignoring how I was supposed to be stealthy at the Thalmor Embassy and slaughtering the weakling elves, I had time to plunder the place. You wouldn't believe what some of those knife-ears had, and most of it got sold to the same merchant. I heard he was framed, but that's his fault for buying clearly stolen merchandise.

Anyways, going through it I found out how the Thalmor were manipulating Ulfric Stormcloak into the war, and used Alduin as an excuse to get both him and General Tullius into the same room. I then locked myself in with them and made them talk it out.

Took two damn weeks, but peace was reached. Ulfric was given Skyrim as a sovereign nation, on the conditions that he continue raising an army to protect the Empire should it be needed. He wasn't happy, Tullius wasn't happy, but again, I was the Dragonborn. I can kill them at any point in time with one well-placed Shout. As a sovereign nation allied with the Empire instead of a part of it, Ulfric was free to legalize Talos worship, and then Tullius could go home. It was a win-win, and it boggles my mind that neither had thought of it earlier.

That done, I killed the werewolf pack hiding in Whiterun, took their mead-hall as my own base, and started recruiting my own little army. For years I took contracts, made money, and gained esteem within all of the holds.

Which brings me to today, my 50th birthday. I'd been married, had children, grown old, and was on the back of a random horse I'd bought at the gates of Whiterun. The man charged me double as I always ended up coming back without a horse so he felt he could charge me more for getting them killed. To be fair, I had money to burn,even with leaving the majority of it behind at Jorrvaskr, so his request was annoying but not too bad.

I'd ridden for a few days, once more making the trek up to the Throat of the World. Here I stood, alone. My horse had been killed by a frost troll. Paarthurnax was off doing dragon shit. In my hands, I held the cause and likely effect of my ascension to the role of hero: the Elder Scroll.

Those things were tricky. They weren't made, not exactly. They existed because I held it, and I could only hold it because it existed.

In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the greatest idea to use again, but I was bored.

I was bored because in my time of adventuring, in dungeon diving and in saving innocents, in brutally destroying those who I considered evil, I had grown accustomed to fighting for my life, fighting for a reason.

Now it was just "Hey Ralof, take a few men and kill those Giants." Or "Oi, Jon, get your bloody boots off my table or I'll cut off your legs."

There was no excitement anymore! Even when a rogue dragon would come around looking for food it would only take a shout to bring it down to my level then a couple well placed blows with Wuuthrad to kill it. I had absorbed as many dragon souls as I could, but now I didn't feel the rush of power and understanding I used to. It was just an annoyance to deal with.

Thus, I was about to read the Elder Scroll again. All of my greatest adventures had involved them, and I was itching for another one to break the monotony.

As I opened the scroll, the crackling sound of a Thu'um rose from behind me. It was too late, as the patterns burned themselves into my eyes I felt a piping hot dose of Unrelenting Force send me flying of the tip of the mortal world, and all faded to darkness.

For about 2 seconds.

I was tumbling through the air as I felt my protection disappear. Wuuthrad was torn from my back, my plate armour stripped from my body, my satchel torn from my grasp and the Scroll ceased to be. It didn't fade, or magically explode, it was simply gone. The province rushed by beneath me, faster and faster, ignoring all laws of motion.

As I flew on, trees started uprooting themselves, the stars fell from the sky, the water boiled out of the sea, and I honestly believed I accidently had taken Skooma again.

Then everything went dark again, this darkness ushering me into a very odd dream that I had no memory of having yet remember as clear as day.

Damn Elder Scroll.


	2. Chapter 1: Initiation Day Pt1

**Another chapter. Here you go.**

Chapter 1: Initiation Day Pt.1

I woke up crucified.

Okay that might be a bit of an exaggeration but that was what first came to mind. I was just pinned to a tree, held up by a strange black garment that covered my torso, with sleeves that ran all the way to my wrists. Minimal plate armour covered only my breast and shoulders, and from the prodding at my back it at least protected there too. Odd woven wrappings adorned my legs. A foolish choice of clothing, considering it was warmer than… Well, anywhere I'd been. A strange sword hung at my hip, a puny little one-handed weapon fit only for elves and children.

This was new, at least. So far, so good on this adventure.

The pin was an odd spear of red and gold, which had no distinction in material between shaft and point. Clearly someone somewhere didn't know proper weapon-crafting. I looked down and, seeing that the fall wasn't too far, braced myself against the tree and yanked the spear out, falling to the forest floor.

I landed with a roll, somewhat happy at the range of movement that this outfit provided yet feeling naked without my armour. The enchantments on that set had cost me a fortune. After taking a glance around to ensure I wasn't being watched by whoever pinned me to the tree like a signpost, I pulled out the weapon.

It was a very simple sword, made of steel. The sheath was stupidly large, so I took it off and dropped it on the ground. I took another glance around, verifying that I was alone still.

I was wrong the first time. There was something approaching me at a high speed through the impossibly healthy trees, as fast as a vampire at least. I settled into a stance, my sword held off to my side, though it still felt much too light to do any damage. I prepared to unleash Elemental Fury, as speed would be my weapon in this engagement.

Then I caught sight of my to-be opponent, my first of this particular quest, and decided that the Imperial scum before me didn't deserve to hear the righteous fury of my Thu'um before I cut her to pieces. She stopped a few paces away and glanced at me, and while her face showed confusion, her posture belayed relaxation.

This particular Imperial looked quite strange, with a bastardized version of the uniform over her young body. Much too young, in my opinion, but every man and woman had the right to die for their stupid decisions. Even if they looked like children.

"Jaune?" Her voice was smooth but clipped, almost as if it were not her first language.

I looked over my shoulder to ensure I wasn't surrounded, but it was still just us two.

"Your cohorts are too far to help you, Imperial." I stated calmly. "You stand before the Dovahkiin. I will allow you your final words before you die, speak and be heard."

She started back, mouthing 'Imperial?' before shaking her head.

"Jaune, it's me, Phyrra. I am so sorry but I think you may have hit your head against that tree." Strange choice of last words.

"So be it. Make peace with your gods."

She took another step back. "Jaune?"

"I am not Jaune. I am Dovahkiin! _**FUS RO DAH!**_ "

She stood there as my heart fell to the pit of my stomach. I felt no rush of power, no thrumming in my soul as the power of The Voice rushed through me. I felt… Wrong.

"Oh my." The Imperial -Phyrra- stated. "Are you okay? Would you like help?"

With a primal growl I abandoned my attempts at using my power and resorted to a more mundane route of attack. Namely, the sword still held in my hand.

I charged forth with a mighty war cry, though her features quickly turned from concerned to resigned determination and the spear that had pinned me flew into her hand of its own accord.

Then pieces began moving and before I had even reached her, she had a shield in her left arm and a red-gold sword in the other.

I must admit, my charge faltered. I noted that her weapon could possibly change back at any time and continued my advance, swinging slowly to gauge her skill.

That was my first mistake. The woman parried my half-strength strike with ease and spun around to deliver a backhanded leg sweep with her shield. My feet were taken out from under me, reminding me once more of the advantages my armour provided me. I rolled away and scrambled to my feet but my opponent did not press the attack, instead settling into an obviously defensive form.

"A mage, too. I thought the Imperials guarded their mages, hm?" I mused, searching her form for flaws.

"You're talking nonsense. We saw each other first, thus we are partners. Please, let's just talk."

"I will not let your honeyed words dissuade me. You and your comrades have caused too much trouble, and agreed to pull out of Skyrim. Tullius himself gave me his word, and so it will be to him I'll send your head!" I charged once more, this time holding nothing back.

Atop a frozen mountain, a very confused blonde teen gulped as a massive beast landed before him.

"Uhhh… Hello?" Was all he managed before the dragon opened its maw.

" _ **YOL TOOR SHUL!"**_

The poor boy died with many screams from the steel armour that encased him.

The battle went on. I assaulted her with all of my strength, though she was quick to parry and deflect every strike. She was a swordswoman the likes of which I haven't seen since Delphine, Divines rest her paranoid soul. I noticed she never attacked, and after a particularly strong shield bash, I stood panting.

'Why do I feel so tired? She hasn't cast any magic, nor is her blade enchanted…'

"You're quite skilled for an Imperial." I stated.

She lowered her weapons and stood straight, though I could tell she was ready to fight again at any moment. "I am not an Imperial, Jaune. I'm Phyrra Nikos. You are not well."

"Wanna bet?" I growled.

"We will stay here and wait for help. Surely they will allow us to re-take the initiation exam."

At that, I lowered _my_ weapons too. "They?"

"Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch?" She said, quirking an eyebrow.

"Thalmor."

"What does that mean?"

I stared at her for a good five seconds but she seemed genuine. "Oppressors, slavers, supremacists, and blasphemers of the highest order. Truly, you do not know of the Thalmor?"

"I.. Do not?" She turned away, very daring to do while in front of an opponent. "Jaune, where do you think you are? _Who_ do you think you are?"

"Enough with the mind games! I am not Jaune!"

"You are."

I growled once more then rushed forward, but in a blur of movement I found myself on the forest floor with the point of a spear at my throat. "Stay down, please." She almost sounded as if she were pleading.

Growling, I pushed my head up slowly, ignoring the pain from the spear, even ignoring the warmth of my blood as I ever so slowly impaled myself on the weapon. Her pleading eyes turned to shock and she leapt back. I found myself forced back to the ground by an invisible force.

"You're fighting without your aura!" She exclaimed. "I'm so sorry! If I had known I never would have gone along!"

'I… Wait… What?' I thought, my brain turning. I was by no means the smartest Nord but even I knew something was amiss. An Imperial just _apologized._

"My what?" Good, feign ignorance.

"Your aura."

I blankly stared at her as well as I could from my spot on the ground, but her confusion trumped any subtle facial expression I could make.

"Explain yourself…. Phyrra Nikos."

"You first, Jaune-that-is-not-Jaune."

"I'm the Dovahkiin. Your turn." I deadpanned.

"That is not an explanation!" She huffed, exasperated. "I will let you go on your word that you will not attempt to attack me again."

"Ever?" I inquired, considering it.

"I would hope so! We're partners for the next four years, if attacking me is to become a regular thing than I should have stayed in Mistral!"

"As opposed to.." I trailed off, deliberately not answering her question.

"Vale? Beacon Academy? You should see a doctor, and soon. You may be concussed." She still seemed concerned. She nodded. "Definitely concussed." The pressure on my body vanished, and I collected the piece-of-crap sword as I stood. Might as well be a stick, for all the good it did me.

It does sound like the start to an excellent adventure, though, so good work Elder Scroll.

"Now… What were you saying about aura?"

Her weapon shifted and various parts moved to turn it into… Something. She held it like a crossbow but I could see no bolts, nor a drawing mechanism.

"First, your word."

"Fine." I spat. "Until the end of this examination, I promise to bring you no harm."

"Wonderful." Phyrra said, and finally stowed her weapons. "Now, aura is the manifestation of our soul. As hunters, we need it to act as our shield, and our Semblance to act as our sword against the creatures of Grimm."

"So?"

"So, you managed to get into beacon without using your aura." She explained. "That's incredible."

"I managed to get here by reading an ancient artifact unbound by time or space, actually. No idea where _this_ is, Im-Phyrra." I gave her the briefest of explanations. "So if you would kindly explain why I'm here, where here is, what we're doing, and why my power is not working, I would be more than glad to help you finish this exam. Sooner that happens, the sooner I can get to a town and figure out what's going on. Deal?"

She was still looking at me as if I were crazy, which I actually was, before sighing. "Deal."

What the actual fuck?

What kind of twisted Mage College launches their initiates off of a cliff into a forest full of terrible beasts?

We'd come across only one of these beasts, a Grimm as the Imperial liar told me. A Beowolf, to be precise, though with a loud noise its head had exploded and the thing had faded into dust like an Atronach would, leaving nothing behind. She hadn't given it any time, continuing on our ridiculous pace through the forest.

I also realized something, as we wove between trees. My body had deteriorated. Aches and pains had vanished, replaced by the fatigue that plagues an un-hardened body. Mainly, the body of a youth. I had significantly less hair than I had however long ago, and my legs throbbed with muscle exertion. I ran through it, obviously, but I couldn't ignore the fact that with every passing step my muscles would be weaker for when I would again fight the girl.

Though to be completely honest, i was doubting my ability to defeat her. Without the power granted to me by my Thu'um, I felt weak, and with an unfamiliar weapon and hardly a piece of armour, even more so. She seemed benevolent, but that needed to be taken with a grain of salt.

I was no stranger to loneliness, or to making new allies, though I had a sneaking suspicion that I was far away from any hint of my reputation, and further still from Skyrim itself.

With another loud bang, she dispatched another of the Grimm, pointing her odd crossbow at it. I myself skidded to a halt, to observe how it disappeared.

It appeared to burn without flame, ashes rising into the air before scattering. Very curious, as it meant that the creatures were magical in nature. It also meant that I would not be getting any spoils of war for when I inevitably wiped the beasts out.

"Why did you stop?" Phyrra stood, having stopped herself.

"Explain these." I said, gesturing towards the rising cloud of ash.

"They're the Creatures of Grimm." She replied, puzzled. "They're drawn towards negative emotion and attack anything with a soul on sight."

"But what _are_ they? Animals? Magical constructs? Imagination?"

She tilted her head. "Who knows?"

"Fine." I relented. "How are you killing them?"

She pulled out her weapon, shifting it to the crossbow-thing. "Miló, my weapon." She said fondly. "It's a Javelin with mecha-shift capabilities for both close and long range combat."

"So it can turn into a sword?" I prodded.

"And a rifle."

"A what?"

"A long-range high caliber rifle." She said slowly.

"I'm not stupid, I heard you the first time." I growled, annoyed. "But what is a rifle?"

Her face paled. "I think we should keep moving."

"I think you should answer the question, Imperial. How is it you have a weapon that can change forms, and kill enemies without touching them? That's strong magic, and I hate magic."

She continued looking at me strangely. Maybe that was just her face, though."It isn't magic, it's just technology. Your own shield can mecha-shift. A rifle is something that uses a propellant to deliver a bullet from the user to a target to deliver damage from outside of harm's way."

"Like a crossbow?" I ventured. "And what shield?"

She nodded. "Right. Except instead of using a pulling mechanism, the projectile is launched with a controlled explosion, or in my case using the power of Dust."

Dust? How old does she think I am? "Fine, play your stupid games. Next 'Grimm' we come across though, I'm killing." I said, daring her to challenge me.

With that bitches audacity, of course she did. "Not until we find out what happened to your Aura. I'll keep you safe, and you can look out for anything I may miss."

"I am NOT your personal scout, woman!" I shouted. "I've killed bigger and better foes than you've ever dreamed of!"

"Without an Aura?" She jested.

I stormed up to her. "Without whatever this damn Aura thing is, correct. I did it with a blade that's spilled enough blood to fill the sea, with armor that has withstood the fires of _gods_. I did it with my hands, and the power of my Voice. I didn't need any pansy magic then, and I don't need it now!"

She sighed. "When you change your mind, let me know. I'd feel much better knowing my partner wasn't going to be killed at any moment."

"Don't you worry about me, sweet roll. Let's go find a Grimm so I can show you how _men_ fight." I walked past her, aiming to push her aside with my shoulder but she moved out of the way and took up a position behind me.

Despite my gut telling me not to turn my back lest I receive a dagger to it, I continued on. No chance in Oblivion would this woman catch me appearing fearful.

Even if I kind of was.

It wasn't long until we happened upon yet another Beowolf. With a grin, I pulled out my sword and charged at it, bellowing a fearsome war cry. The creature didn't cower in fear as it should have, instead sniffing the air and gazing directly at me behind an ornamental bone mask. The thing was ugly, a mass of shadows with gleaming white and red spots of bone sticking out of it. Wouldn't stop me from killing it, if spiky-face World-eater fell to my blade, so too would this thing.

I placed both hands on my sword and swung right at the creature's face, but it leaped back and before I could bring my sword back to ready position, it had closed the gap with another leap and aimed to separate my head from my shoulders. Not one to lie down and die, I spun to the side, avoiding it. One of its claws still caught my shoulder, and though my measly armor caught the blow, the force was enough to send me sprawling.

I rolled back to my feet. Clearly this animal was wickedly fast. Unfortunately for me, my standard strategy against fast enemies was to let them tire out as they tried -and failed- to get through my armour. I was currently missing a key component of that strategy and it did not bear well for my health.

I parried it's claw as it leapt yet again, and slammed my shoulder into its gut with the intent of winding it for a finishing stroke.

That would have worked, had I not forgotten I was in the body of a little boy. The animal bowled me over and rode me to the ground, jaws opening to enclose my face, when Phyrra threw her shield into its face, knocking it off of me with a whimper. The shield spun and returned to her arm as I scrambled up.

"Is this how _men_ fight, Jaune?" She teased. I bit back a reply as the wolf lunged at her, right past me. I swung my sword in an uppercut that _should_ have removed it's head, but it simply left a line of glowing red on its body. I did succeed in throwing of its trajectory, and it had to scamper to regain footing upon landing.

Pressing the advantage, I feinted another overhand strike then sidestepped as it clawed at my sword. Pulling my weapon out of reach, I grinned as the animal over-extended and proceeded to thrust my sword into the wound I'd made before. With it lodged there, I turned my back and swept my sword over my head with a grunt of effort, severing its neck from the penetration point to the top. Staring at Phyrra I let my grin grow to a smirk, which quickly left my face as I saw three more of the beowolfves quickly fading to ash at her feet.

Before she could say anything, I whipped my sword off to the side to get the blood off of it, despite there being no blood, and angrily thrust it back into the stupidly heavy sheath that Phyrra hadn't let me leave behind. "Let's keep moving." I grumbled, angry at my pathetic body. I needed my strength back.

With a chuckle, she put up her weapons and followed my fuming self into the forest.


	3. Chapter 2: Initiation Day Pt2

**Dear readers,**

 **I'm amazed at the interest in the story. I hadn't planned to actually get this chapter done for a while, but as the views, favourites, and follows streamed in I felt that it was my duty to provide you with at least modicum of entertainment.**

 **Yes, the main character will be rude, and a bit racist. Don't expect a faunus hater though, I mean he was able to deal with** ** _literal talking lizards and cats_** **so who cares if a chick has bunny ears.**

 **Yes, the Gamer! part is coming soon.**

 **And yes, I love fried chicken.**

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"Fucking stupid body."

"That's no language to be using, Jaune."

"I'm not fucking JAUNE. How many times do I have to say to you that is _not_ my bloody name! It never has been, it never will be, and FUCK THIS FOREST."

Phyrra raised a palm to her head in exasperation.

We had been walking for about half an hour now, all of the running was tiring me out and as I was her 'partner', she was forced to stick with me. I guess it was something along the lines of a shield-sister, but I didn't trust her at all so I treated her as I would any mercenary. Namely, with an ever-present assumption that they had no idea what they were doing.

"It's not far to the temple, this will be over soon."

"Which is what you said an hour ago!" I replied, slapping branches out of the way. "Seriously, how do you even know where it is? Unless this 'aura' of yours makes you able to see through fucking trees, you're just as lost as I am."

"Aura doesn't work like that, not-Jaune." I growled at her. "Aura is the manifestation of our souls. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt like you were being watched, even when nobody was there?"

"All of my life…" I muttered. "So what?"

"With time, effort, and a lot of practice, your Aura can act as your shield. Every living thing has it, even animals." She explained.

"Except the Grimm." I noted.

"Correct. The Grimm are the darkness of Remnant, and we, as huntsman and huntresses, are the light."

"Nothing is that certain. Each side must have both darkness and light, to deal in absolutes is to deal in ignorance." Experience had taught me that.

"Also correct. Everyone has some of both. All of the equipment that hunters utilize in our work are conduits for that aura. It will enhance your speed, strength, and will allow you to endure attacks beyond the capability of the human body. Close your eyes."

I snorted. "Not a chance, Imperial. I won't let you do any magic on me."

"It is not magic, it is simply the projection of your being, of your soul! To neglect something like that out of ignorance is as bad as believing in the sides of darkness and light!" She seemed frustrated. "Just let me help you help yourself!"

"How I just help myself, and you can go fu-" Loud noises echoed through the forest rapidly, as though small strikes of lightning were nearby.

"It seems our classmates have encountered the enemy." She said sullenly. "Shall we continue?"

"Fine." I ducked under another branch and walked for about ten seconds before coming up to a cave. With a grin I turned around. "Temple discovered. Is there any of those creatures in here?"

"I do not know. Let me take the lead, at least I will be able to take the hit if we come across one."

"Sit down, shut up, and let me make a torch."

I ended up shedding that stupid hooded garment. I had a white shirt that was unbearably soft underneath, so I simply tucked that into my belt and threw the measly armor back on over top. The black fabric was torn and wrapped around a sizable bough from a nearby tree, though I had to get Phyrra to light it. Stupid mages.

Stupid Imperials.

Torch lit and emitting light, I ducked into the entrance of the cave. After a minute or two, the Imperial, as they are wont to do, had to make her opinion heard. "I don't think this is the forest temple."

I wheeled around. "'Forest Temple'? Why the hell didn't you say that earlier? Why the fuck would a forest temple be underground?"

She looked down. "It was your idea."

"Based on your intelligence!"

"Don't blame me! I just sat down, shut up, and let you make the torch."

"Well I'm going to keep checking this place out. In my experience, caves always have something interesting to show." I turned back around and promptly whacked my face off a rock. With my armour, that wouldn't have hurt much at all. Instead I got a sharp bit right to the brow, which i instinctively recoiled away from and tripped over a rocky protrusion on the ground. The torch fell out of my hand and landed in a puddle that I could have sworn wasn't there before, extinguishing it.

"Damn-it Phyrra, you had one job."

She was silent, and as I looked at her face from the ground, I could see she was staring down the tunnel. Then I realized I could see her, and my extinguished torch, but just barely.

"You still there?" I tried again.

"We need to leave." She said monotonously. "We need to leave right now."

I turned to see what she was staring in horror at, and it was a moving, glowing light. Moving erratically, which meant it was clearly magical or biological. Given the only things that I've seen around here were Phyrra and Grimm, the decision wasn't hard.

It was made even less difficult when the light started moving towards us with a skittering sound I'd long since associated with the giant spiders that inhabited the caves and forests of Skyrim.

I scrambled to my feet and took off down the cave, cursing leaving the torch behind. With my lack of armour, I was able to get up to quite a speed despite the fatigue in my body. The sound was quickly gaining on us, however, so I made a decision that, again, I had made many times before.

I drew my sword and turned around to fight. Not a great idea in the darkness of the cave, but the only source of light was this Grimm that was quickly approaching us so I really had little in the way of options. It was either run away in the darkness or stand and fight in the light.

Then I was lifted off the ground and started floating down the cave.

"What the fuck! Help!" I shouted, for despite my many adventures this was completely new.

"I am, now let me concentrate!" Phyrra shouted back.

I did as she asked. Not because I accepted her as a leader but because she… knew what she was doing. I was very reluctant to admit that to myself, but survival was in my schedule.

We shot from the mouth of the tunnel and I found myself launched into the air as a black pincer clicked shut just underneath me. I had just enough time to identify the Grimm as a giant scorpion before its glowing yellow stinger flashed out and impacted my breastplate harder than any arrow I'd been struck by before. Again though, the armor held, and instead of being impaled I was sent flying through the air much too fast for my liking. I saw Phyrra continue in her sprint, dodging swipes and stabs from the beast without even glancing behind her.

The scene was swept away from my vision both by my tumbling and from the trees that extended in every direction. The tumbling was almost serene, if not for the fact that I would soon reach the ground and without reinforced armour, would end up like many of the bandits I had shouted from the walls of their 'fortresses'.

I had asked for a new adventure, new enemies to face and villages to save. New allies to bring back to Jorrvaskr, and new weapons to outfit my group with. The irony was not lost on me as I found myself with a woefully under-equipped body and against lightning-fast foes. Such was fate, and if it was mine to be sent to Sovngarde on this day then I was content.

I briefly noted a section of the forest ablaze and was wondering how it had happened when I collided with something else, shedding my speed and likely leaving heavy bruises across my body. In a flurry of green, red, and black, I impacted a tree and briefly lost consciousness.

When I came to, I was draped across a thick branch and high up in a tree, with someone shaking my shoulder.

"Jaune! Wake up!" A young girl's voice yelled.

"Ugh.." I groggily mumbled. "Not.. Jaune."

"Oh!" The voice said again, and the presence of her disappeared. Looking beneath me I saw I was only about 15 feet off the ground, so I slid off the branch and landed on the ground. Looking around I saw myself on the edge of a clearing, with a stone ruin in the middle of it and a few more girls in colourful outfits standing in front of it.

I rolled my shoulders and began walking towards them, determined to find out exactly what was going on. I made it about three steps before a loud screaming came from above me and I was driven back to the ground by yet another teenaged girl in white.

"My hero." She sarcastically said, before hopping off and taking off in a run towards the group.

I scrambled back to my feet, ribs bruised even more. "What the FUCK is going on!" I shouted.

There was no chance for me to answer, as the trees on the other side of the clearing crashed to the ground. Phyrra ran towards what I assumed was the temple, with the same giant scorpion in relentless pursuit. As she was the only person I knew, I drew my sword once more and ran towards her.

My attempt at rescue was cut short as she was finally hit be a claw right into me, sending both of us tumbling to a stop in front of the temple.

"Great, the gang's all here! Now we can die together."

"Not if I can help it!" I heard the same voice that roused me from my sleep, and saw a girl in red and black run towards the giant scorpion with an absolutely _massive_ sickle. She held it behind her and as it let off another bang like the ones that Phyrra's weapon used, she was propelled forward at a tremendous rate of speed.

Her efforts were in vain, as the scorpion simply knocked her out of the air with a pincer. She landed and rolled back to her feet. "Don't worry, I'm totally fine!" She shouted back to us, firing another shot from her sickle. Apparently weapons in this place all could fire these projectiles. Unlike with the beowolves, however, this shot simply glanced off of the bone-plate on the scorpion's face, and the girl turned to run back towards us with the creature hot on her tail.

One of the girls, clad in brown and yellow, shouted out. "Ruby!"

She took off towards the red girl, who I assumed was named Ruby. From the looks of it, she wouldn't get there in time.

This belief was reinforced when I felt a familiar rage build in my body at the sight of a massive bird diving down above the scorpion. This bird was clearly another creature of Grimm, with it's red-marked bone-plating, but its resemblance to a dragon left me angry. Not because it was there, but because in this state I was too weak to fight it.

My heart dropped as with a flap of its wings, a rain of giant feathers whistled through the air at Ruby. She managed to dodge the first few, but luckily -or unluckily in her case- one managed to pin her cape to the ground. Why she wore a cape in combat was beyond me, those stupid garments weren't necessary in a climate this warm, and from the way it had been flapping behind her, it wasn't nearly thick enough to retain heat in any case.

The feathers continued well past Ruby and almost speared the girl in yellow.

"Ruby, get out of there!" We have a genius among us, clearly Ruby's goal was to stay pinned by a giant feather.

"I'm trying, Yang!" Good, now I've got two names. I also noted that the yellow girl's name started with a Y, while the red girl's name started with an R. Easy to remember, at least something around here was practical.

With a blur the girl in white sped off, rune traps forming underneath her feet but not exploding. Yet another mage, it would seem. In the split second before Ruby was skewer and poisoned on the end of the scorpion's stinger, the girl in white slammed her thin sword into the ground and cast a very impressive ice wall spell, that solidified and trapped the scorpion.

Then, as girls are wont to do, they started talking, completely disregarding the circling dragon-bird and struggling scorpion, both of which were much larger. Then the girl in yellow decided to stop and talk too and I couldn't hold it any longer.

"MOVE!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs, though my stupid body decided to have it's young voice crack.

Luckily the colour co-ordinated trio ran back to us as we stood there doing absolutely nothing except for waiting for them. The other girls around me were content to stand still, but my hands were continuously re-adjusting their grip on my weapon. I couldn't help but feel like I was under-prepared, even more so than I was earlier.

I mean, Phyrra was managing to kill those other Grimms with one shot, and Ruby's weapon was quite a lot larger. In weapon terms, it packed a much larger punch. Only the mage had managed to do anything effective, and from the looks of it the giant scorpion's prison wouldn't last much longer.

I noticed that at least Phyrra was restless. I nudged her with my elbow. "Some test, huh?"

"You can say that again."

I smirked and tried to say it again, but my voice wouldn't work. I tried to breath in, only for my breath to catch. Red-hot pain shot up my spine as I coughed once, then couldn't stop spitting up blood. I think we were moving, I couldn't be sure. I was confused, things were blurry, sounds were muffled, I could taste copper and honey.

The only thing I was certain of was the 2 giant black feathers speared right through both my knee and gut, then I fell.


	4. Chapter 3: Wakey, Wakey!

**Hey there,**

 **Just to let you know, no there will be no save points or checkpoints. Death is death, The Gamer ability in itself does not reverse time. A skill that resets time a la The Edge Of Tomorrow is _possible_ , but I won't be doing that in my story. Not only does it make for a completely bland character, but it wouldn't leave any room for interest. No matter what direction I took my story in, there would be no suspense, just "Oh, if he loses he'll just respawn and come back when he's stronger."**

 **Boring!**

 **Also, I'm still looking for that beta!**

 **Good Reading!**

* * *

I woke briefly to the sound of an odd chiming and the presence of a woman with strange green hair. My attempts at sitting up were easily foiled by this lady, and as I fell back into this ridiculously comfortable bed I did not stop, but continued my fall into the land of sleep.

The second time I awoke was much different. A strange blue box hung in my vision.

 **You have slept in a hospital bed! HP & AP restored by 100%!**

"What the…" I mumbled, though my throat felt like gravel had been stowing away down there. With a few coughs, I spit coagulated blood out of my mouth and onto the floor beside me. The box persisted, so I shooed it away as I would a fly and it disappeared. Must have been the effects of…

 _Coughing, screaming, the sounds of hundreds of 'shots' being fired._

" _Jaune! Nora, send up a flare, Ren, distract that thing!" More shots, a grunt as a man was sent flying._

" _Get him on board, I'll handle this."_

" _I can't believe they took out a Giant Nevermore, Professor."_

" _I expected it."_

" _Sir, will he be okay?"_

" _We'll see, Ms. Nikos. We'll see."_

With a gasp I ripped the surprisingly soft sheets off my body to see that my body was fine. No giant feathers, no holes, with a quick flex I tested my knee and it still worked as well as it could while lying down. There was dried blood on me so it wasn't just a dream but a wound of that intensity shouldn't have healed that fast at all. I rubbed my face to check for hair and with a shudder I yanked my hand away from the measly peach fuzz on my cheeks.

Then the door to my blank white room opened and Phyrra ran through, quickly coming to my bedside. She leaned down and whispered to me.

"Act like you're Jaune with no memory. Trust me."

She stood straight as a man with grey hair walked in, carrying a cane. He did not carry it for support, but more as a king would carry a scepter. He held himself with power, and though his frame was lithe his presence filled the room.

"Mr. Arc, I was not expecting you to be awake this early." He stated, though the manner in which he spoke left no room for doubt; this man expected an answer.

"I wasn't expecting to be asleep that early either." My voice sounded harsh.

"I was not expecting it either. One might wonder how such an attack could breach your considerable aura."

"Jaune and I had been fighting our way through the forest. It was likely that he had exhausted himself." Phyrra spoke in my defense. "Along with the unexpected attack, it is not unlikely that his aura would be pierced."

"Hm… Indeed." The man stared at me with a critical eye. "I have an offer for the both of you. Ms. Nikos, if you could help Mr. Arc up to my office."

"He just awoke, Sir. Could he not get some time to recover?"

"If I'm correct, he is as right as rain at this very moment. I'll be waiting for you two up there. Please don't keep me waiting for long."

Another blue box popped into my vision as he exited the room.

 **[Quest Alert:] Wakey Wakey!**

 **Time to get out of bed, sleepy head! The Headmaster wants to talk to you and he's a man that's best not to keep waiting.**

 **[Main Objective:] Meet with Ozpin in his office.**

 **[Side Objectives:] ?, ?**

 **[Reward:] [Initiation Exam Part Two!], [Gear Up, Buttercup!], Access to Beacon Dormitory, Increased Rep with Beacon, Ozpin, Phyrra, Nora, and Ren.**

 **[Failure:] Expulsion from Beacon, decreased rep with Beacon, Ozpin, Phyrra, Nora, and Ren. Possible admission to mental hospital. Possible death. [He Took The Midnight Train]**

 **Accept? [Yes] [No]**

I looked around but the box followed my field of view. The "Yes" was framed in green, while the "No" was framed in red. I tried swiping it away as I did the last box, but my hand simply passed through the illusion.

"Uhm.. Not-Jaune? What are you doing? And how are you already healed?"

I sighed and closed my eyes. I was clearly not well, and this box was starting to annoy me. "My real name is Torga. Use it. As for what I'm doing, this infernal box is annoying me and I'm trying to get rid of it. I have to assume somebody around here is either a skilled alchemist or knows Restoration magic, as I have no other ideas on how I'm in any sort of shape right now."

"...What?" She looked very puzzled.

"My name Torga. Annoying blue box with words. Someone healed me." I said slowly. The red-head shook her hair back with a glare.

"I understood what you said, _Jaune_." I growled at her. "I just don't see any box. As for the healing, I may have had something to do with that."

"What did you do." I stared her down. Considering I'd stared down almost every powerful being in Skyrim, she held her ground surprisingly well. Likely due to my younger body having not nearly as much of an intimidating factor.

"What you should have let me do in the forest!"

The conversation with… I glanced at the floating box once more. The conversation with Ozpin ran through my head. "You gave me aura. You forced magic upon me." I swung my legs out of the bed, and was about to stand before I noticed I was wearing a gown that covered not nearly enough of my body. I was absolutely fine walking through the tundras of Winterhold in nothing but leather armor, yet this garment made me feel exposed.

"You were dying! I had no choice. Hate me if you must, but I made the correct decision. The decision that led to you being alive here today." She reasoned though a certain amount of guilt crossed her face as well. I know guilt when I see it.

"Every man has a choice, Phyrra. Even if that choice is to die with honour rather than live with shame. You stripped that choice from me." I couldn't fault her logic, however. Sovngarde awaits me, but if this is to be my new situation, than I shall not be sent there yet. There's too many new enemies to fight.

"Are you ashamed?" She asked.

"Slightly." I immediately replied. "Magic is for cowards and milk-drinkers who can't wield a sword."

"Wouldn't someone who could wield both be more powerful than either alone?"

"That would depend on your definition of power. Now, about this box." I could only take it jiggling around so much. "Is this a result of aura, as you call it?"

"No, Torga, aura does not create boxes." Phyrra stated as if lecturing a child. I frowned at her, though she held up a hand to stall me. "Aura is a representation of your soul. It shields your body and strengthens your blows, but it does not create. What do the words in the box say?"

I read it off, still confused.

"Increased reputation with me…? What does that even mean?"

"Fuck if I know." I replied, frustrated that of all the people around here that I knew, even with that being solely her, nobody could tell me.

"Have you tried moving the box? With your mind, or hands?"

"You only found out about the box because I was waving my hand at it." I deadpanned.

Her face flushed. "Right. Have you pressed either of the buttons yet?"

"No."

"Try pressing yes."

"Why?" My finger hovered over the button.

"Because the cost of failure sounds bad and we have to go and see him anyways."

I shrugged and pushed my finger forwards. The box disappeared, and was replaced by a much smaller box that fled to the corner of my vision.

 **10:00… 9:59… 9:58**

"The box changed into a clock that's counting down."

"Interesting. How much time is there?"

"9:50… 9:49"

"Ten minutes to get to Ozpin's office. We should probably leave."

I looked down at myself and then back at her, shaking my head. "I'm not going anywhere in this."

"Failure means possible death, right?"

"Right…" I didn't like where she was going with this.

"Alright, so long as you're okay with dying because you were afraid of people seein-" The rest of her words fell on deaf ears as I pulled my way through the door and found myself in a hall with a large arching roof. Phyrra closed the door behind us, then grabbed my hand and took off running.

I yanked the hand back. "I can run without your hand!"

"But can you keep up?" She said playfully, before putting on a burst of speed and pulling ahead. She soon turned a corner and I lost sight of her.

When I also turned the corner to see an even longer hall, I was shocked to see just how far ahead she was. With a grunt I pushed myself to a sprint and found myself going faster than I ever had before.

Pillars whizzed by as I coaxed every inch of speed out of my premature body. I tended to get competitive fairly quickly, so I finally found a positive aspect of this younger me; I was lighter, and could run so much faster.

I was not catching up with her by any means, and she turned yet another corner. In but a few seconds I ran around it too only to tumble to the ground as I attempted to avoid a collision with a few of the girls that I had met in the forest.

I heard a gasp. "Well, I never!"

"Jaune! You're awake!" Ruby exclaimed, with a flushed face at seeing my outfit. I nodded as I scrambled to my bare feet.

"Yes I am, I'm also in a rush so farewell!" I ran off, not daring to look behind me. I know that if I had, I would have to see their facial expressions as they beheld my pale ass, and that was something I would rather pretend never happened. Phyrra was nowhere in sight, so I slowed as I reached the next intersection of hallways, looking down each to see if I could spot her.

In an explosion of rose petals, Ruby was standing by my side. "Where are you going? Are you okay? You got stabbed by a Nevermore!"

"Ozpin's office, I'm fine, and I've taken worse. Which way is it?"

"You're not dressed properly! You can't go see Ozpin in that!"

"He said not to keep him waiting, so I'm not."

Ruby huffed. "Fine. Hold on."

She grabbed my hand, and in a blur that felt like I was being hit by the voice of the Greybeards yet again, we skidded to a halt. I almost threw up, but barely managed to keep it down as I put a hand on the wall for support.

"Here's the elevator." She pointed at an odd looking doorway, and I could hear bootfalls as Phyrra rounded a corner down this hall. All of these hallways looked the same so I doubt I could have found my way back to her regardless. "Now, what happened?"

"I unlocked his aura while you were fighting the Nevermore, it started healing him but with the Deathstalker right there we had to forfeit. We were picked up in a Bullhead. Ren took the stinger in his shoulder, but he's recovering fine with the help of his Semblance. Ruby, we truly are in a rush as we only have…" Phyrra entered my field of view and looked at me expectantly.

"5 minutes." I said after glancing at the timer that still hadn't moved from the top-left of my sight.

"5 minutes to meet with Ozpin. I take it you know how slow this elevator is?"

She shuddered. "I'll see you two later then."

With a high-pitched ding, the doors slid open of their own accord. Phyrra walked into an empty room behind it, and I followed her in. The doors shut behind us, and with a jolt I realized I was on a lift. Maybe not as clunky as the Dwemer lifts were, but these 'elevators' moved smooth and fast. What incredible technology, with something like this I could finally repopulate Sky Haven Temple without having to walk through all those puzzles. It was amazing really, moving so fast without putting in any effort.

 **[Side Objective Completed!]**

Oh great, another box. I tried swiping this one away and thankfully this time it faded from view.

"Another one?" Phyrra asked.

"Yes, this one said I'd completed a side objective."

"You should speak with Ozpin about it. Let him know what's happening. Remember, to him your name is Jaune Arc, and you can't remember anything before you hit your head on that tree. Stick to that story, and hopefully you will get your actual memory back soon."

Fuck, I thought she actually believed me. Shows how little you can trust Imperials, even Imperial want-to-be's.

With another ding, the doors before us slid open, and I took the opportunity to boldly stroll through. Ozpin was standing in front of a large desk nursing a steaming mug. "Are we on time?"

"Well Mr. Arc, do you mean figuratively or literally?" Ozpin gestured towards the floor with a mischievous grin on his face. He was dressed in an odd black suit and a green scarf, with seeing-glasses on his face. Despite his grey hair, he looked young, with unmarked skin.

I looked down, and saw large gears turning beneath the floor, likely powering a clock. Those gears were much too big to simply be powering that lift.

"Both?" I ventured a guess.

"You could have changed first, but I admire your need to show punctuality, even if you are somewhat lacking in tact."

"Point taken." I replied. "You wanted to see me?"

He leaned back on his desk, still studying me with eyes that looked much too old for the body they inhabited. I'd seen those eyes before, on the likes of vampires and lycanthropes, or others that have lived longer than they had any right to. "Yes. Due to the unforeseen circumstances surrounding the initiation exam, some students made it to the temple but did not grab an artifact. I used the artifacts to make the teams for this year. The details of which student is on what team will be available to you afterwards."

"After what?" Phyrra asked.

"There were two sets of partners that failed to collect artifacts, Ms. Nikos. Yourself and Mr. Arc, as well as Ms. Valkyrie and Mr. Ren. As you technically failed the exam, you will not be admitted to Beacon Academy under these circumstances."

Phyrra's shoulders slumped briefly, before setting themselves once more. "Then under which circumstances would admission be possible, Sir?"

Ozpin smirked. "Good catch. Mr. Ren is currently admitted to the medical wing, and will be out of commision for a few days. Until he recovers, you will be admitted into a dormitory. After his recovery, you will be brought outside the city walls by a professor in order to take a new proficiency test. Upon passing that, you will be formally granted admission to Beacon."

"Thank you, Sir, you won't regret this!" Phyrra exclaimed.

"No, I don't imagine that I will." He gave another smirk, and I finally had him pinned. He's the type of person that knows something you don't, and lords it over people in a very subtle way. This man would have been loved by the Thalmor. "Ms Nikos, the location of your new dormitory has been uploaded to your scroll." Phyrra emitted an odd chiming noise and I raised an eyebrow. "Please head there, I would like to have a word alone with Mr. Arc, here."

With a glance of worry in my direction, she nodded. She then turned on her heel and left, leaving me alone with a very intimidating man. He wasn't particularly large, but he was _powerful_ , that I could tell.

"So, _Mr. Arc_ ," He started, putting emphasis on my not-name. "What's an Imperial?"

' _Shit.'_. He knows. "Look, I wish I could explain, but I can't."

"Explain what? How you're not Jaune Arc, despite inhabiting his body? How you seem to have no knowledge of culture, climate, or modern technology? Or how you managed to not only take this body but rip it's aura out and implant your own?" Ozpin looked at me expectantly, and I noticed his hand had moved towards the head of his cane.

"Have you ever heard of the Elder Scrolls?" I started, though his expression didn't change. "No?" Still nothing. "Well, this is a lot harder. An Elder Scroll is an artifact that exists outside of time and space, created before the universe and after the universe ends. They simply are, and within them one can find all that is."

"Sounds like a bad lie to me, _Mr. Arc._ "

I held up a hand. "The real name is Torga. I assume Mr. Arc is the one who had previously inhabited this body."

"Assuming you aren't suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder, then yes."

"From wha… sure. Anyways, whenever an Elder Scroll is involved, shit gets out of hand. I've had three encounters with Elder Scrolls before, one of which was the end of the world and the afterlife, and the other was in an attempt to extinguish the sun."

"And the third?"

"The plot to extinguish the sun involved two Elder Scrolls." I told him.

"Yet, the world still stands, and it is quite a sunny day today." He said, gesturing out a magnificent window.

"Yea, you're fucking welcome."

"I'll ignore that. You mean to say that you're responsible for the continued existence of Remnant."

"I… maybe? I'm not even sure if I'm anywhere close to home. With the Elder Scrolls existing outside of time and space, I could be literally anywhere, or any _when_ right now."

He turned and look out of the gigantic window to an odd looking city in the distance. "You seem to be in quite a predicament. I assume you would like to return to your home."

"You would assume wrong. I opened that Elder Scroll in order to find adventure. My life was getting stale, after fighting for my life for 15 years there was no other life for me to be content with. This Remnant seems very dangerous, and with equally dangerous weapons to wield. This place seems to be a combat school, if I'm not mistaken, and one Jaune Arc is currently awaiting his proficiency test." I told him. "From the shape this body is in, the boy that originally inhabited it had no inclination towards combat or even hard work." I held up my hands. "These are the hands of a scribe, or a mage. Not a warrior you want to be slaughtering those Grimm."

He seemed deep in thought. "Professor Ozpin, allow me to offer a sort of personal proficiency test. Allow me to do this secondary exam. If I do not live up to your standards, I will allow you to kill me yourself, so long as it is in combat."

He turned back around. "You think that if you fail my test, you will be able to fight _me?"_ He asked incredulously.

"No knowing what will happen until it happens, Professor. You just seem like the type of man to give a glorious battle before I die and join my allies and ancestors in Sovngarde." At seeing his curious glance I continued. "Sovngarde is a holy mead hall that warriors go to when they die. There we will fight and drink and prepare for the final war against the Dremora."

"Death by combat… I will not grant this request. You will rest with Ms. Nikos. She will get you up to speed on the world you now live in, and you will pass my test without flaw. After, when you return, I will ask you which of your team-mates you will choose as leader. Should you live up to my expectations, you will be admitted to this school on a probationary basis. Should you fail in any aspect of this, I will deposit you outside of the walls to live your life."

I shrugged. "That works for me."

He turned back to his window. "Meet with Ms. Nikos in your dormitory. The location is on your scroll."

I wasn't holding any sort of scroll on my person, but I wasn't going to appear stupid in front of this man that looked like he was already testing me. I simply turned and walked back to the odd doors, pushing the glowing button to summon the lift.

 **[Quest Completed!] Wakey, Wakey!**

 **Time to get out of bed, sleepy head! The Headmaster wants to talk to you and he's a man that's best not to keep waiting.**

 **[Main Objective:]**

 **Meet with Ozpin in his office. [Complete]**

 **[Side Objectives:]**

 **Beat Phyrra in the race to the elevator. [Complete]**

 **Convince Ozpin that you are Jaune Arc. [Failed]**

 **You've earned 1000 XP!**

 **Beacon Dormitory (Safehouse) unlocked!**

 **Quest: [Initiation Exam Part Two!] unlocked!**

 **Quest: [Gear Up, Buttercup!] unlocked!**

 **Reputation with Phyrra Nikos: Friendly 10/5000**

 **Reputation with Ozpin: Neutral 500/1000**

"Ugh, these things are annoying." I waved it away as I stepped into the elevator. "I don't even know what that means."

 **You seem to be having issues with the system. INT -1. Would you like to activate the tutorial?**

 **[Yes] [No]**

A witch walked out from behind a pillar in Ozpin's office. Wearing a low-cut shirt, glasses, and wielding a riding crop, she approached the Headmaster himself.

"You don't actually believe him, do you?" She asked.

"No, not until I have some sort of proof and further questioning. Unless he impresses me in the trial, I will simply wash my hands of the whole situation."

The woman snorted. "We both know you won't leave this alone, even if he is just crazy."

Ozpin looked into her bright green eyes. "Glynda I implore you to find a Huntsman or Huntress that is not a little insane."

I pressed the **[Yes]** button, and the lift stopped itself.

 **Welcome, player! You seem to be having issues with the system. Please say 'Status' to begin the tutorial!**

I paused for a moment. Player? "Status."

 **Name: Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **Lvl: 3**

 **Race: Human**

 **Title: The Displaced One (-90% to AP, -30% to WIS)**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: 30.3%**

 **HP: 76**

 **AP: 1 (The Displaced One)**

 **STR: 7**

 **VIT: 5**

 **AGI: 4**

 **INT: 2**

 **WIS: 2**

 **LUK: 2**

 **TITLE: The Displaced One:** **You have no idea where you are, what's going on, or how people are doing the things that they are doing. You don't belong here, and you know it. Unlock your semblance to remove this Title.**

"That's… me? I still don't get what all these numbers mean but-"

 **Name:** **This is your name. It will not change unless you get it legally changed, become married, or suffer a large existential crisis.**

 **Age:** **This is how old your body is.**

 **Level:** **This is a representation of your overall power. Higher levels mean more dangerous beings.**

 **Race:** **This is what species you would be classified as.**

 **Title:** **A descriptive title granted to you through hard work or special actions. Can contain buffs and debuffs and be changed at will with some exceptions.**

 **Status:** **The condition of your body. Reflects status effects such as poison, paralysis, fatigue, etc.**

 **XP:** **How close to the next level you are. XP is earned by completing quests, fighting enemies, and certain actions.**

 **HP:** **A numeric representation of your life. As you take damage the numbers get lower, and if it reaches 0 then you die.**

 **AP:** **A numeric representation of your aura. This allows you to use skills and raise your stats, though if it reaches 0 you suffer from 'Aura Exhaustion',**

 **STR:** **A numeric representation of your Strength. This number dictates your ability to lift heavy objects, deal physical damage, and works in tandem with your agility to determine movement speed.**

 **VIT:** **A numeric representation of your Vitality. This number dictates your ability to resist damage and status effects, heal back lost hit points(HP), and directly affects your maximum hit points.**

 **AGI:** **A numeric representation of your Agility. This number dictates your ability to dodge and run, your speed of physical attacks, and works in tandem with your strength to determine movement speed.**

 **INT:** **A numeric representation of your Intelligence. This number dictates your maximum Aura Points (AP), the damage you can do with Aura based attacks, and all intellectual pursuits. It improves fact retention, preventing you from forgetting even the most mundane of details.**

 **WIS:** **A numeric representation of your Wisdom. This number dictates the rate at which you use AP, as well as how fast your AP regenerates. Wisdom also gives a small boost to experience points and the rate at which skills level up. In the physical world, wisdom will help you come up with plans and strategies in order to use what you know to maximum effect.**

 **LUK:** **A numeric representation of your luck. This number dictates how lucky you are and influences enemy encounters, loot chances, gambling odds, and gives a small bonus to each stat.**

I read that lengthy screen over a number of times and compared it to the one that held my statistics. I was slightly outraged at my apparent lack of intelligence, but more so at my lack of wisdom. Years of experience were under my belt, and yet due to this 'Title', The Displaced One, I apparently had no idea what was going on or what to do. Thinking back to my time in the forest, that was all too true.

 **Continue with the Tutorial? [Yes] [No]**

The elevator still hadn't restarted, so I poked the **[Yes]** option once more.

 **Bring up the Skills Menu by saying 'Skills'**

I shrugged. "Skills."

 **Skills**

 **The Gamer's Body (Passive) (LVL MAX):** **Allows the player to live his/her life as if it were a video game. Instead of receiving grievous injuries or being cut open by attacks, the player loses hit points. The player does not need to eat, drink, or sleep, though these actions do provide benefits. Sleeping restores HP, AP, and returns Status to normal.**

 **The Gamer's Mind (Passive) (LVL MAX):** **Allows the player to logically think things through with a sense of detachment. Protects against psychological status effects.**

 **Running (Passive) (LVL 1):** **A skill that levels up by running. Increase this skill to run faster and farther without exhausting yourself.**

 **The skills menu displays all of your abilities. Abilities are either passive or active. Passive abilities are constantly activated, Active abilities can be activated either by going through with the activity or saying the name of the skill.**

 **Would you like to continue the Tutorial? [Yes] [No]**

"That explains a lot." Apparently I hadn't been healed by anyone, I'd just… slept it off. I chuckled a little bit. Was this how everyone around here lived? No, it couldn't be, that other fellow that was injured still isn't healed so I must be a rarity.

 **For coming to a correct conclusion with little information, WIS has increased by one!**

I looked at the status page, one of the two boxes floating before me, but it didn't show anything different. I decided to immediately get rid of that title as best I could by unlocking my semblance, whatever that was, and to do that I would need to find Phyrra.

 **For thinking things through and creating a plan, WIS has increased by one!**

Now my WIS was up to 3, though I certainly didn't feel any wiser. I pressed the **[Yes]** option once more.

 **To complete the Tutorial, open the Inventory. You should know how to do this by now.**

Rolling my eyes, I said "Inventory."

I saw a new box pop up, with… boxes inside of it. The entire left side was full of empty boxes, while the right side showed a blonde boy in an odd dress. Underneath, in the bottom right, a circle with an odd white box inside it. I raised my hand to poke it, and the figure also raised his hand. ' _Hm, I guess that would be me_ '. I touched the only other thing that was not a box or myself. It was a small image of the gown.

 **White Hospital Gown:** **A simple gown made for ease of dressing and removal. Allows a wonderful breeze through.**

 **+1 VIT.**

I wouldn't call that breeze _wonderful_.

 **To use the inventory, simply place items inside physically. To take them out, just grab the item and pull it out. Money will only take up one slot per currency type. All other items will be stacked up to 99 times before moving onto a new slot. There is no limit to quantity of items, though the overall weight cannot exceed 3x your strength in pounds.**

 **Congratulations! You have completed the basic tutorial. This is not all that is offered, however, so feel free to experiment and figure things out for yourself! Here's a hint: Try saying Quests, Heads Up Display, or Party Options.**

I swiped all the screens away, and the elevator started descending once more.

It felt wrong. Normally I would be angry beyond belief, or incredibly confused by this. Instead, I just felt a sort of… acceptance.

I refused to accept that.


	5. Chapter 4: Gear Up, Buttercup!

Thank the Divines for Ruby Rose.

When I had exited Ozpin's elevator, she and Phyrra were waiting there for me. Sure, the rest of what I had found out was Ruby's team was there but I didn't acknowledge what they were saying. Ruby handed me clothes, which I thankfully was able to slip on as I stood with my back to a wall. Where she got those clothes, I had no idea, and I didn't want to ask. They matched the ones I woke up in, including the ripped up sweater. I learned such a garment was called a 'hoody'.

Phyrra clued in that I was uncomfortable, which was an easy act to portray, and suggested leading me back to our dormitory. Good thing too, as I would have been so incredibly lost had I attempted the trip on my own. I saw her using one of those white squares like the one I found on my Inventory page to navigate, and she told me it was a scroll, the modern replacement for couriers, maps, libraries, and a slew of other things. It didn't look nearly big enough to be a map but she lead us there with no issues.

Opening the door, I could see that two out of the four small beds were taken. One had an unhealthy amount of pink around it, and the other held some sort of brewing set like those I'd seen inside the various halls and keeps that the Jarl's called home. The two furthest from the door were available, and I sat on the one closest to the window. Phyrra claimed her own bed after shutting the door.

As soon as she sat down, I spoke. "Ozpin knows."

"Knows what?"

"That I'm not Jaune. That I've somehow found myself in his body, and apparently have forced out his aura and replaced it with my own."

"So… he's gone, then." She seemed sad.

I did just essentially destroy a living being in the most cruel sense of the word. Nevermind that it wasn't intentional, his soul was not even captured by a soul gem, it probably just dissipated upon the cosmic winds. With a shudder I realized that if it had stayed together I would be haunted for quite some time.

"Yes, he is." I willed myself to believe what I had just said. "Did you know him well?"

"This is very odd, speaking to Jaune yet it not being Jaune. I did not know him well, but I would have liked to."

"I… I am sorry for your loss." No way I was going to apologize for doing it though.

She shook her head. "No matter. What did Ozpin have to say?"

"He told me that we would be re-doing the exam, and unless I could show my worth many times over, he would be leaving me outside the city walls."

She gasped. "That's a death sentence!"

"Bastard made it seem like a holiday…" I muttered, before remembering something. "Oh, and I completed that quest, apparently. One of the 'Side Objectives' was beating you in a race, so thanks for letting me win." I said with a smirk.

"I didn't."

"I know."

"You cheated."

"No, I used the resources available to me. Besides, you were in combat gear while I was in a dress and barefoot." I pointed out.

"We'll have a re-match, don't you worry."

"I'm not." There was silence for a time. Out of my window I could see a view of the distant city, as the sun set over it. It was quite a beautiful sight, though a haze filled the air. That was one thing I had noticed since coming here, the air seemed… dirty. It wasn't bad, per se, but it was thick, not as crisp. It's hard to describe.

"So, Phyrra."

"Yes, Jau... Torga?" The name sounded so odd coming from her lips.

"How do I unlock my semblance?"

She sighed and stood up off of her bed. "Not sitting around here. Your semblance is unlocked as a result of training with your aura and being in… well a do-or-die situation."

I stood as well. I was again in a dark hooded shirt, and those trousers made of a blue weave material. "I don't plan on going into one of those without some proper weapons and armor, at the very least."

"What is wrong with your current weapon?" She tilted her head to the side.

"It feels like I'm wielding a lockpick against a bear. I need a bigger sword, and better armor. I think it might have something to do with the new quest I got after leaving Ozpin's."

"Torga, maybe those boxes _are_ your semblance."

"What is yours?"

"I can manipulate metal." Oh really?

"And why is that your semblance?"

"I… I don't know. I was around metal a lot as a child, trained from a very young age with many weapons, and… Well, I'm used to metal."

"Right, so it's something you were inclined to already." I'm willing to bet my dragon blood is my semblance, but without my body that held the dragon blood… Would the souls have carried over? Would those souls even have anywhere to go if I wasn't able to re-absorb them with the dragon blood? Or were they turned loose? If it was the latter option, it was only a matter of time before they showed up again, even without Alduin to resurrect them. Dragons were tenacious bastards.

"Anyways, why do you ask? Your semblance will be discovered in time, certainly not before Ren awakens."

"The boxes told me that until I unlock my semblance, I'll be taking a hit to my Aura Points and Wisdom."

"What are you talking about?"

Right, I hadn't explained what I had found on the elevator, so I told her then. As I went on, she got continuously more interested until I got to the inventory. With a grin she handed me a box that was red and gold. "Put that inside."

I shrugged and did it. It fell into my inventory, taking up the second box. The first held that hospital gown, though I don't know why I kept it. Thing was damn uncomfortable. It showed up as a sort of cylinder, and I tapped on it.

"Basic .45, common, 30 damage." I read off. "A basic ammo type for basic scenarios, and basic people. You've got 24 of them."

"Having never seen a rifle before the forest, you seem to know a little bit about ammo."

"Not me, it's the inventory telling me that." I informed her as I handed back the ammo.

 **Through a special action, the Skill 'Observe' has been created!**

 **Observe (Active) (LVL. 1):** **You look at a person or an item, finding out what details you can from just a glance. Levels with use. Higher levels grant more information.**

"Interesting, I just got a new skill, Observe." A window popped up in front of me.

 **Phyrra Nikos**

 **The Invincible Girl**

 **LVL. 21**

That's bullshit! I scoffed and swiped the window away.

"You look like you just ate seaweed." Phyrra stated.

"You look like you're a lot stronger than me at the moment." I needed to improve my level, that much was clear. Being more powerful would be essential to survive in this body, regardless of whether I can unlock my dragon shouts. I never relied on them, but instead used them to augment my already considerable battle proficiency. I raised my wisdom by thinking things through, I lost intelligence by being uninformed.

What did I want to focus on, then? Having decisions and knowing which to use would go a long way, but that will be irrelevant if I don't have the strength to follow through with those actions. Though on that note, having strength won't matter without a set of equipment with which to utilise it.

I needed a two handed weapon. A battle-ax would be preferred but I could also wield hammers and great-swords. Though, if the girl I saw in the forest was any indication of the powers of aura, I could easily wield a great-sword with one hand and a tower shield with the other, becoming an impenetrable wall of defense. If my sword was also a _rifle_ , I would become a walking castle!

"Quests."

 **Active Quests:**

 **[Gear up, Buttercup!]**

 **[Initiation Exam Part 2!]**

 **[Gear up, Buttercup!]**

 **It looks like you need some new gear, the classics just aren't cutting it!**

 **[Main Objectives]**

 **Obtain 1 new weapon**

 **Obtain 1 new piece of armour**

 **[Side Objectives]**

 **?**

 **?**

 **[Rewards] 3000 XP, 500 Lien, Skill [_ Mastery]**

 **[Failure] 500 XP**

 **[Initiation Exam Part 2!]**

 **Ozpin was feeling generous, and gave you another chance to prove that you're worthy of being accepted into Beacon Huntsman Academy. Here you can learn to use your aura and fight the Grimm!**

 **[Main Objective]**

 **Take the Initiation Exam… Again!**

 **[Side Objectives]**

 **Ensure All Team-mates Survive**

 **Pass Ozpin's Leadership Test!**

 **Train Your Ass Off! (All Physical Stats over 15)**

 **?**

 **[Rewards] 10,000 XP, 5000 Lien, Title Beacon First-Year, Access to Beacon Classes.**

 **[Failure] 500 XP, Title The Displaced Failure, Exile from Vale, Possible death.**

"We need to find a blacksmith." I said, heading for the door.

"Why?"

"I need weapons and armour. I won't be training any longer with that sword, nor with that shield. I need something fitting for a warrior, not a noble sitting in their castle on a hill."

She followed me out the door, locking it behind her. I didn't keep going, as I had no way of knowing where to go. "We're partners, you know. If we want to pass this exam, we should at least train."

"We are going to train, just after I get my shit. Can we go now?"

Thankfully Ozpin had left a way for us to get to Vale.

It was as we stood on the cliff impatiently waiting that my mind was blown. A metal box, bigger than most houses, lowered itself from the sky with a rush of air and a loud whining sound. A drawbridge opened from the side closest to us revealing the inside of a metal box.

"What in Oblivion is that!" I yelled over the sound of the… thing. My initial surprise and amazement was quelled in short order, though it still was wonderous.

"It's our ride, just follow me."

"Not so fast, Ms. Nikos." The headmaster himself was suddenly behind us. I didn't hear him arrive, there was nothing to tell he had moved near us. He simply appeared. A woman in an odd black dress with a white blouse followed him. She had piercing green eyes that were currently looking over me with scrutiny.

"Professors!"

"Glynda here will accompany you to town. Mr. Arc, I seem to recall you losing your funds at some point during the initiation exam. This card is connected to a school account for orphans and… less fortunate prospects. I trust that you will be wary about your spending but it would be irresponsible to not send a chaperone with two first-year students." He held out a black card with an embossed silver emblem of two crossed axes in a wreath.

"Thank you…? I won't spend it all." I replied, not knowing how it was possible that I couldn't spend it all. I am very grateful he gave me this card, though if there was only one, how was I supposed to afford anything? I didn't know prices but he could have at least given me 5 cards.

Until I actually took a hold of the card. "Observe." I muttered to myself.

 **You have received a Beacon Academy Credit Card! This card can only be used in designated stores, but miraculously comes without a limit! Spend your heart out on the company dime!**

 **Accepted Locations:**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

"I would be amazed if you could, Mr. Arc."

"So.. where can I use this?"

The woman in black and white - Glynda - huffed and stormed onto our ride. "I'll take you to the necessary places, Jaune." I briefly grimaced. 'Mr. Arc' I didn't mind, as I never had really had a last name. When I was called 'Jaune', it just reinforced how little I belonged here. It was hard enough for me, with all of this weird technology around, people dressing extravagantly, a combat school, giant creatures literally made of darkness, and that I was stuck in a teenagers body with a strange new ability.

I wasn't in over my head with the ability at least. It seemed pretty straightforward, though immensely complex at the same time. The only thing left to do was follow these quests in hopes that it will lead me to whatever problem plagues this land. I think it would be pretty obvious, though I doubted that I alone would be able to exterminate the Grimm. For now I would get stronger, and try to access my Dragon Shouts.

With the determination to get stronger rooted firmly in my mind, I followed the stern professor onto our ride while Ozpin had a quick chat with Phyrra. She soon stepped into the room and the drawbridge shut, odd torches illuminating the otherwise dark area. Flameless torches, magic seems to be much more common here than in Skyrim.

After a smooth ride, much smoother than Odahviing, we touched down and exited the airship, for that is what it was. Phyrra had told me it was called a Bullhead, and had mounted weapons for both cargo- and combat-purposes. The thought of tying saddlebags to a dragon briefly crossed my mind and I couldn't help but snort. All that got me was a cross glare from Glynda, and we hurried along behind her.

This city was incredible. The buildings were so tall, so _straight_. Glass was used in abundance, and it was more pure and clear than even the most masterful glass-smiths back home could have managed. The amount of people also walking the streets was mind-boggling, there was an entire village worth of people within a stone's throw from me and this was only a small part of the city!

We soon walked into a store, and I was in awe. Weapons, weapons everywhere. Large swords, axes, daggers, rifles, shorter rifles, longer rifles, glowing rifles, old-looking rifles. More swords, spears, halberds, a sickle on a chain, a walking staff. I scoffed at a war-glaive.

"Welcome, friend, to Gale's Gu- Oh, Ms. Goodwitch!" as our 'chaperone' walked through the door the shopkeeper's eyes lit up. "I didn't think graduation was for another 8 months!"

"No, you're right, it isn't. This young man needs to get a proper weapon. Nothing too expensive or intricate, if mecha-shift is involved it must be minimal." She said in a no nonsense attitude. "I will be outside."

As she walked back out of the store leaving me and Phyrra alone with the man, I took a moment to observe the man.

 **Gale Gordon**

 **Apprentice Salesman**

 **Lvl. 13**

Really? A shopkeeper is stronger than me too? That's just embarrassing

"So, young man, what kind of weapon are you searching for?"

"Something two-handed." I replied immediately. "I want more power behind my strikes and the ability to penetrate any defense."

"You won't get that with just a big weapon, it will just make you slow and easy to hit. The best defense is a good offence, and the best offence is a good defence. Combat is finding the mixture between the two that suits you best." Phyrra lectured.

"I'm sorry, who is it that needs a weapon again?" I asked her. She stared at me flatly.

I turned back to Gale. "I'm able to use both axes and two-handed swords, as well as war-hammers in a pinch. I'd prefer something along those lines."

The shopkeeper grimaced, and I knew the look well. It was the look of someone who had their figurative hands tied. "I'm sorry kid, the majority of my stock along those lines has complicated mecha-shift capabilities. When the deputy headmistress of the local Hunter school says not to do something, _you don't do it._ "

"Majority?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have a couple of items, but not nearly the selection I could offer with one-handed or ranged weapons. I just aquired a bow that can turn into two katanas, that spark your interest?"

I shrugged, not knowing what a katana was. "Let's take a look and see, shall we?"

He grinned and took me over to a corner of the shop where a upon a wall hung bows and crossbows. They were all much more blocky and less elegant than those crafted from the various metals and woods of Skyrim, but looked powerful nonetheless if the glowing strips on some of them were to go by. In my mind there was one rule: if it glowed on its own, it was magic. If it was magic, it was dangerous.

The man pulled a blue longbow off of the wall, and handed it to me. It felt heavy, and off-balance. The string was also blue. "So," I asked, "how do I change it?"

He pointed. "Red button on the handle, just be-"

I pressed the button, causing the string to reel itself into the top half and covers to slide back from the upper and lower parts of the bow proper. The thing detached in the middle, and the now formed blade on the bottom clattered to the floor. I shook the one I still had in my hand. The balance was much better than it was while in its bow form, and this did have a handle designed for two-handed use. There was only one issue.

"The blade is curved." I stated, looking at Gale expectantly.

"Well, yea. It's a katana."

"Why would anyone curve a blade?"

Phyrra chimed in once more. "Curved blades are better for slashing, there's more blade being drawn across your enemy than with a similar length of a straight sword. It was originally used as a cavalry weapon, but now is mostly a stylistic approach. It still has a two-handed grip, though if you go the route of curved weaponry I would suggest something else."

"Thank you very much, but I will not be condoning the usage of curved swords. Can we look at the proper two-handers now?" I directed towards Gale, handing him back the sword in my hand. He picked up the other one and joined them back together with a method I didn't quite catch. He looked crestfallen.

"Curved swords…" I muttered as we left the wall of bows.

We came up to the counter and Gale went back into a store room before returning with three weapons.

"Okay so here we have-" I tuned him out as I used Observe on each of the weapons before me.

 **Un-named**

 **Battle-ax/Shotgun**

 **This is a simple design that works with simple technique. The barrel of the shotgun acts as the handle of the ax, allowing a well timed shot after every missed swing. This is a solely close-range weapon.**

 **Damage(Axe):STR x 1.2**

 **Damage(Shotgun): AGI x 0.3 (x12)**

 **DUR: 25**

 **Hal**

 **Dust-Halberd**

 **This is a simple halberd with one key feature: Dust wiring. By placing Dust powder or a Dust Crystal in the handle, one can call upon the elemental powers of each type and augment their swings with it.**

 **Damage(Halberd): STR x 1.1**

 **DUR: 35**

 **Un-named**

 **Harpoon Gun/Zweihander**

 **This weapon utilizes a double-fuller cross-section, with the middle ridge detaching from the sword and fired using Dust. The guard and handle hold a spool of tough wire attached to a powerful winch. With the insertion of a Dust Crystal into the pommel, the harpoon can transfer various effects. Alternatively, the Dust Crystal can be used to power the winch with various effects.**

 **Damage: STR x 1.1**

 **Range: 75 m**

 **DUR:40**

"-hich makes Hal here my personal favourite. Now, the Axe would be better for those new to fire-arms but-"

I cut Gale off, pointing at the sword. "I'll take that one."

"Are you sure? Dust can be very expensive, especially for a first-year."

"You were just trying to sell him a halberd who's only ability was using dust." Phyrra scolded. "Why is it now an issue?"

Gale's eyes glanced back and forth between us. "It's.. It's not. I was saving that for my son, but I can have another made. It's just that it's his 10th birthday tomorrow and I don't have another gift."

 **[New Quest!]**

 **Maybe I Should Have Hid That**

 **Gale foolishly hoped to not sell an item and now he's on the verge of doing just that. Will you let him keep the sword, or find him an alternate present?**

 **[Main Objective:]**

 **Refuse the Sword**

 **-(OR)-**

 **Find An Alternate Present**

 **[Rewards:]**

 **5000XP, Free Weapon -(OR)- Harpoon/Zweihander, +250 REP with Gale's Guns and Gadgets**

 **[Failure:]**

 **100XP, Return to Beacon, -250 REP with Gale's Guns and Gadgets**

 **ACCEPT?: [YES]/[NO]**

"Can we have a moment please?" I asked, ignoring the new quest that was hovering right in front of my vision. Just for now. If XP is what caused me to level up, then 5000 must have been a lot, right?

The now sad shop owner nodded. I turned and grabbed Phyrra by the elbow, leading her back to the corner with the ranged weapons.

"What's this all about? You're not seriously going to take that sword are you?"

I nodded. "I am. It seems like a good fit for me. He shouldn't have brought it out if he wasn't prepared to sell it."

 **REP with Phyrra: -5**

"He brought it out to be a good salesperson and give you options!"

"That doesn't matter right now, I've gotten another quest. This one says that I'll gain a lot of XP, and reputation, but we need to find his son an alternate present." I tried not to feel a little hurt at the message that popped up. As my only friend in this new place, I was counting on her until I acclimatized myself.

She stepped back. "We? You're the one taking a boy's tenth birthday present!"

I stepped forward, closing the gap once more with a glare I found hard to back up given I wasn't much taller than her and she'd already beaten me in a fight. "You think a ten year old boy would be able to wield something that big? Such a weapon would be better used in combat, and when it comes time for me to get a new weapon -and I will- then I will give it back. Until then, the kid needs a birthday gift and I need to know if you'll help me before I decide on anything."

"If I say no, will you leave him with the sword?"

I shook my head. "If it's between me getting kicked out of the city and a little kid getting a birthday present, I choose living every time."

The redhead sighed. "Fine, I'll help you." I grinned and tapped the **[YES]** option. The quest box disappeared, and another popped up.

 **[QUEST OPTION]**

 **[REFUSE TO BUY THE SWORD]**

 **[FIND ALTERNATE PRESENT]**

I shrugged and tapped the second button. Nothing happened so I walked back up to the counter, where Gale was anxiously awaiting.

"Sir, I have to question gifting your son such a large weapon when you have many others in your store to choose from. As it is, I'll need to be taking that. You understand, right? I can promise you my business in the future, and if and when I replace this, I can return it if you'd like."

He shook his head. "Don't worry, I just don't have time to find something else. How are you paying for this?"

I held up the card, and the man sighed in exasperation. "Damnit Ozpin... " he muttered, before crossly grabbing the card from my outstretched hand. I picked up the sword and fell in love instantly. It was well balanced, heavy, and sharp as I could ever need. The handle had an odd series of buttons that I assumed controlled the functions.

 **You have obtained a Harpoon Gun/Zweihander! Would you like to name this weapon?**

"Uhm… No."

 **Your weapon can be named at a later time and date by accessing the "Details" panel in your Inventory.**

I swiped that message away, and made to leave the store. I still had armor to get.

"Sir, you forgot your credit car-" He was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass coming from the front of the store. I looked around a rack of rifles to see three masked men standing in the doorway. Their masks bore the likeness of Grimm, which I found odd, and behind me Phyrra inhaled sharply.

Gale had a completely different reaction, sweeping the other two weapons behind the counter as his face paled. "Jeremy! I didn't know you'd recovered!."

I Observed the three.

 **Jeremy**

 **White Fang Thug**

 **LVL. 19**

 **?**

 **White Fang Initiate**

 **LVL. 7**

 **?**

 **White Fang Initiate**

 **LVL. 6**

 **Observe has gained a level!**

"I bet you thought I wouldn't, Gale. I bet you thought you could sell my fucking weapon and get away with it. In fact, I'm willing to bet that you haven't even repaired it yet." The man in question, Jeremy, had his left arm wrapped up tightly in bandages. In his other was yet another thing I did not recognize but from his grip I assumed it was a small rifle. He held it as one would a one-handed crossbow, which for the record are terrible inventions. The other two were unbandaged and in black, though held a curved metal bar and a wooden club between the two of them.

"I swear, Jeremy, I was going to do it tonight, I just thought that since you couldn't really use i-" Gale's voice caught as 5 men in strange dark grey armour came up behind them. They were glowing at the eyes, and in a large spot on their chest like the rifles I'd seen earlier. I Observed those as well.

 **White Fang Hacked AK-80**

 **LVL. 10**

After briefly wondering why these Knights didn't have names, I nudged Phyrra. "You're the highest level here. Should we do something?"

"Getting involved with the White Fang is risky. These guys may not be strong but that doesn't mean that their friends will be weak. Besides, those are Atlesian Knights. They may not be the 130 Model but they're still defenders of humanity." Phyrra whispered back as the group strolled into the store as if they owned the place, crunching the glass of a broken store window.

"Where are the guards? Shouldn't such an obvious break-in have been caught by now?" I continued, whispering as well.

"That's a very good question."

"I think that keeping his father safe will be a good enough alternate present for his kid." I stated bluntly. The men had ceased talking and stood in what they thought was an intimidating manner behind Jeremy. The Knights were guarding the exit. "Besides, shouldn't this 'Aura' give us an advantage?"

Phyrra's brow furrowed as she considered, then I realized I was essentially asking her for permission to protect an innocent man from bandits. Though I'd seen much more imposing bandits, this was clearly not going to end in anything other than violence.

I grinned at the thought, and stood.

"Who the fuck are you?" One of the initiates, the level seven one asked as he pointed his wooden club at me.

I pulled my new sword out. "Mine's bigger."

"Threat detected. Awaiting command." One of the Knights spoke in a horribly distorted voice.

"If they move, skewer them."

"Activating Warden Protocol." The Knights each drew a single blade from seemingly nowhere, all held in a standard stance and grip. The form was perfect, their stances un-naturally similar. It creeped me out, not even the ever-disciplined and mentally limited Legion could have managed something like that in perfect timing.

Phyrra drew her weapon and shield out from her hiding spot behind the rack.

"Seriously kid, who the hell are you?" Jeremy walked over to me, leaving his henchmen near Gale to prevent him from leaving.

"I'm the Dovahkiin. Slayer of the Eater of Worlds, Saviour of the Sun, yadayada. Who the fuck are _you?_ " I asked in return.

The man simply held his gun up to his head. "Goddamnit not another RPG nerd… look kid, you should just walk out of here before you get hurt."

"That's strange." I replied, feeling no anticipation as I usually would. Must be an effect of the Gamer's Mind. Being able to logically think things through with a sense of detachment. "I was about to suggest you do the same."

He snarled, and I mean actually snarled. Like a dog. Baring his teeth and everything.

His teeth that were also like a dog.

"Last chance before your legs get broken. Take your sword and scram, it's not worth it."

"Which one was yours? Was it the over-compensators axe, or the over-compensators axe with a longer pole?"

Jeremy held out his hand, and one of his lackeys tossed him **Hal**. I nodded. "The one with the longer pole. Figures a dog-khajiit mutt would want a longer stick to play fetch with."

 **Due to a provoking your opponent into a rage, you have obtained the Skill 'Taunt'!**

 **Due to overwhelming anger and desire to harm your person, you have obtained the Skill 'Detect Bloodlust'!**

He slammed a red crystal into the handle of the halberd, and red lines spread up the weapon to the tip. "You just went from broken legs to death, kid!"

I barely managed to parry his horizontal slash, though the force still caused me to stagger. Phyrra was up and moving, rushing the Knights with shield in front of her. Gale himself was beginning to brawl with the Initiates, but my attention was brought back to my own fight as I stepped back out of range of another swipe from Hal.

There was no room inside this shop to fight, only thin aisles and racks of other weapons. As Jeremy attempted to bisect me with an overhand strike, I parried it to the side with my own sword and tackled him back into a rack. He didn't stay there for long, headbutting me and causing me to briefly see stars. He didn't stop there, kicking me in the chest and sending me tumbling over a rack of rifles. He then slammed his halberd down into the ground and an explosion ensued, launching both me and the rack of rifles out of the thankfully already broken window into the street.

I groaned then slowly got to my feet, and marvelled at the fact that I was still uninjured. That explosion should have burned me, yet here I stood with not a singe on my clothing. I also noticed a red bar had appeared in the bottom of my vision, and by the outline it looked a third of the way depleted.

 **[Tutorial Message] You have lost health for the first time! Your health bar will only appear when you take damage. Be careful, if your Health drops to 0 you will die. If your Health drops to 1, you will enter a coma.**

 **For taking damage, you have obtained the Skill 'Physical Endurance'!**

I was quickly knocked back to the ground by another weapons rack, this one hitting me in the face as I was distracted by the boxes. My health bar dropped even more as I rolled my jaw from the ground, again surprised that I wasn't injured. I guess I technically was, if the HP bar was an indicator of my actual health. As it stood, I had lost over half of it in just a few seconds and from just a few hits as well. I needed to evade more, and look out for when he slammed his axe on the ground. That was what caused the last explosion, and if I took another one, I would be dangerously close to dead.

"Not talking now, are ya kid?" This whole 'kid' thing was getting tiring. I pushed myself to my feet, feeling just fine despite the fact that I knew I was hurt. Jeremy didn't know that, as to him I looked unharmed.

"Talking is for before and maybe after a fight, not during it." I said, settling myself into an underhanded stance. To the untrained eye it looked as though I had lowered my sword at an angle in front of me. It was a mostly defensive stance, but as I was secretly hoping Phyrra would finish up inside the shop soon, I felt I just had to bide my time.

Unfortunately, Jeremy agreed with my statement and rushed me once more. He swept his weapon horizontally, which I parried up and over my head and spun past him, delivering an elbow to the back of his head and stepping out of range once more. He may have had strength, but I had many years of experience against monsters and warriors alike. The Dark Brotherhood had sent assassins after me and they were much quicker than this man. I was not in my body, with my armour, but the sword still felt familiar and that gave me confidence.

 **For re-awakening past experience, you have obtained the skill 'Unarmed Combat Mastery'!**

"Kid's got moves, I see. Let's see how you like this-ugh!" I had charged him while he was talking, swinging my sword overhand. He attempted to parry it with the shaft of his weapon but I rode the parry and used the momentum to spin again, swinging my sword all the speed I could muster.

Against another opponent, such an attack would have bit through light armor and much of their torso. As it was, my blade left a deep cut across his chest. He hopped back, holding his bandaged arm to his chest and snarling again as it came away darkened with blood. He abandoned all reason and _sprinted_ at me, and it was all I could do to block his blows. Jeremy had gotten a second - or, first, I guess - wind and was swinging his halberd at me in a fury.

I took glancing blows and didn't have the strength or speed to counter. It was infuriating, to have been previously able to overpower most enemies with brute strength alone and now to be relying on my technique as the only advantage I had in this fight. Divines, Phyrra was in there against 7 opponents and I was struggling against 1. Granted, it was the strongest one but it was still a duel scenario and I was _losing._

I feinted back and then planted a kick in his chest as his axe drew closer to the ground. I had to get back on the offensive, but as the axe-head struck the stone, another explosion sent me skidding across the road into the side of a building. A glance at my Health showed that I had only a small amount remaining, anything other than a glancing hit and I was finished. This pathetic body of mine could barely take a hit!

I pushed myself to my feet and adopted a more offensive stance as I rushed Jeremy once more. He grinned and swung with all his might as I did the same, and he managed to catch my blade under the hook of his axe. We were locked in a stalemate; If I tried to draw my sword away, his axe would hit me in shoulder, and while with armor I could have made it skim off, I couldn't risk it until I knew the limits of my Health Points. On his side, it wouldn't be possible to unhook my blade unless he moved towards me, giving me the leverage I needed to connect. This sword was sharp, sharp enough to give him an extra hole to breath through.

I pushed, while slowly angling my blade towards him. He clearly had the power, but I had the height. I was making slow progress.

"You didn't honestly think you could defeat the White Fang, did you?" He sneered. "Did you just crawl out of a box? Civilians fear us, the police fear us. Hell, even the Hunters fear us. Now, you will fear us too, before you die."

I didn't respond, struggling to keep his axe from cutting me open as he put on an extra burst of strength. The weapons slowly drew closer and closer to my body, and I could feel heat emanating from Hal. A result of the crystal, maybe? Could it have added a fire enchantment somehow?

I wasn't unprepared to die. As always, Sovngarde awaited. I simply wanted to stay alive. I had gotten a second chance, with a new power, and a younger body. I had essentially gotten another _life._ Not many got that chance. Nobody, in fact, got that chance. I prepared to push back when my sword _clicked_ and the center of it shot out, leaving it with two blades. A rope spooled out as the centerpiece shot away, burying itself in the side of a nearby building. My sword was yanked up and out of my hands by the rope, and the hilt caught on Hal's blade, taking it as well. There was a brief moment as we both processed what had happened, then I grinned and drove a fist with all of my power into his face, it connecting with a crunch as his nose was broken. He spun to the street.

 **Through the use of overwhelming force, you have obtained the skill 'Power Strike'!**

 **Unarmed Combat Mastery's level has increased by 1!**

"Power Strike?" I muttered, and without warning my body threw itself at Jeremy, driving my fist into the back of his head and slamming it into the ground with a spatter of blood.

I put that event to the back of my mind and mounted him, rearing my fist back before delivering another solid punch to the mouth. There was a crack as my fist met his face, then another crack as his head hit the pavement. I drew back my arm for another hit, but it was held in place by an invisible force.

"Jaune, stop! You'll kill him!" Phyrra stood amongst the glass of the broken window, legitimate concern across her face.

"He was ready to kill me." I stated blankly.

"You'll go to jail, or Ozpin will just kill you himself! You're to become a Huntsman, that means protecting the people, not stopping to the level of criminals. We'll watch over him until the police arrive then he will be taken in and get what he deserves. You're just in training, you can't just kill people because they tried to kill you."

"That's bullshit." I said, getting off of the criminal nonetheless. My HP was dangerously low but until it hit zero I wouldn't feel a thing.

 **Level has increased by one!**

"How?" Phyrra asked incredulously. "That's decency, that's _necessary_ for humanity's survival! Your poor attitude is going to get everyone killed!"

"Let's just make sure that Gale's okay and considers this a better present. I want to finish that quest and get on with my day so we can train." I'd already moved on past the issue. Sure, I could think about it, but I didn't feel the adrenaline pumping from a life-or-death situation, I didn't feel the aching in my muscles or even a shortness of breath. The entire encounter could have never happened but for my lowered health and the shattered window. With a clang, my sword fell back to the ground behind me, followed by an explosion as the halberd followed. The explosion launched my sword straight at me. I ducked and closed my eyes, preparing for the worst.

The sword never hit. Phyrra stood with her arm outstretched, a black glow outlining her body, and the same glow outlining my sword. It was hovering in mid air, re-assembled with the tip quivering an inch from my face. She dropped her hand and it clattered to the ground.

"Did you…?" I started, before shaking my head. "Thanks."

She just turned and strode back into the shop. I sighed and followed her.

The inside of the store was a mess, and a part of me pitied Gale for having to clean it all. The other part of me figured that cleaning was better than being assaulted by this White Fang faction. I made a note to ask Phyrra about them later.

Gale was thanking Phyrra, and began to thank me as well but I held up a hand to stop him. "A weapons store should have guards, for this exact reason. These people could have cleared out your entire stock had we not been here, and from the weapon that Jeremy had, it would not have been good to have such arms in the hands of criminals. Especially when you're working with them."

"Working with them?! Jeremy just comes in and forces me to repair his stupid axe! He knows where my family is, my children! What would you have done?"

"Killed the bastard. Nobody threatens my family." I didn't usually speak about them. My wife, my son. My family that I'd gotten killed. Too often it brought up pangs of regret and sorrow, but even those were stripped from me as my ability worked to calm my mind. I was glad, too long had I shouldered the burden. Here though, nobody knew what had happened. Nobody knew anything about me.

He scoffed. "Then I'd be in jail and there would be a definite response."

I scoffed in return. "Well, you're fine now, and Jeremy isn't getting up any time soon. I'd say that's a pretty good present for your son, don't you think?"

"Yea, I'm going to tell my kid that I almost died in an attempted shakedown but was saved by a couple of Hunters in training. That'll make him look up to me." He said sarcastically.

"I don't care what you do. Your life was saved, my experience with your store was ruined, and I'm definitely not going to part with this sword."

"You don't even know how to use it!"

"I'm a quick learner."

He sighed then glanced around his ruined shop. "I bet… Fine. Take the sword, here's the owner's manual, and please leave before you do any more damage." He held out a pamphlet, which I took.

 **You have obtained the Skill Book 'Dust-Enabled Harpoon Zweihander'!**

 **Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[YES]/[NO]**

As was becoming common, I tapped the yes button. The small pamphlet erupted into golden light and dissipated, and I staggered back as a wealth of knowledge flooded into my brain.

I knew everything about this weapon. How it worked, how to control it, what its capabilities were. I learned how it was made and of which materials. I knew how much stress it could handle, how much weight the braided steel cable could support, how many pounds of force the winch could exert, and exactly how much Dust output of each type I could feed through it without damaging the inner workings.

 **For reading a Skill Book, you have obtained the skill 'Harpoon Mastery'!**

 **For reading a Skill Book, you have obtained the skill 'Longsword Mastery'!**

 **You have completed the Quest [Maybe I Should Have Hid That]**

 **Rewards: 5000 XP, Harpoon Gun/Zweihander.**

 **You have completed the Quest [Gear Up, Buttercup!]**

 **Rewards: 3000 XP, 500 Lien**

 **Level has increased by one!**

"Wait what? I haven't gotten any armor yet!" I exclaimed, not realizing the amazed stares I was receiving.

"Jaune, Phyrra! Outside this instant!" Phyrra waved apologetically and I simply walked out. From Glynda's tone, we were in trouble.

 **New Skills:**

 **Detect Bloodlust LVL.2**

 **You have the ability to sense whether those in your presence wish to cause you harm. Increasing the level extends the range and pinpoints the direction from which the bloodlust is originating.**

 **Range: 10m**

 **Taunt LVL.7**

 **By taunting your opponent, you can give them the 'Taunted' debuff. Taunted decreases WIS and INT by 25%, but raises STR and VIT by 50%.**

 **Chance to work is dependant upon REP with target, target's INT and WIS, and your WIS.**

 **Current chance to Taunt: 5%**

 **Physical Endurance LVL.1**

 **You have a tendency to get yourself beat up, and your body is getting used to it. Reduces incoming Physical Damage based on VIT.**

 **Current Effect: 2%**

 **Unarmed Combat Mastery LVL.6**

 **Through experience and training, you're working to become a master of martial arts.**

 **30% increase to unarmed damage**

 **30% increase to unarmed attack speed**

 **Harpoon Mastery LVL.1**

 **A weapon originally used for fishing, you've adapted this into a mid-range combat style.**

 **1% increase to accuracy**

 **1m increase to range**

 **1% of defense ignored**

 **5% increase to attack damage**

 **Longsword Mastery LVL.17**

 **A normal sword isn't enough for you, big guy. You need something bigger, and you're willing to work for it!**

 **85% increase to attack damage**

 **85% increase to attack speed**

 **Power Strike LVL.1**

 **By focusing all of your strength into a single blow, you can strike with more power! The attack takes time to prepare, so use it carefully! AP Cost: 15**

 **50% increase to attack damage**

 **10% decrease to attack speed**

 **2s charge time**

* * *

 **Wow. This fic has officially been added to the two communities that originally gave me the inspiration to start one of these Gamer fics. It isn't easy to do, keeping all the stats together and the scaling rates for abilities and such, I taught myself how to use Excel just for this fic so I'm glad it's getting recognized! To all of you who have made my story one of your alerts, I'm honored to have peaked your interest that much**

 **Thank you for the support in reviews, and while I have seen some people discontent with the MC I would just like to remind everyone. He's from _SKYRIM_. At his roots, he's murdered plenty of bandits, seen some dark shit, and literally fought the Eater of the World. If you think he's being mean, it's because Skyrim tends to make people that way.**

 **Hope that clears a little bit up.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~HHR**


	6. Chapter 5: Meeting The Team

Glynda had not been happy. Not one bit. With a wave of her riding crop, she had repaired and restored the store to pristine condition, then stormed us back to the Bullhead. Along the way she shoved a heavy bag into my hands, one that I had to sheathe my sword to carry.

My sword rested on what was called a 'magnetic mount'. I had gotten another manual for this one, but the Skill Book pop-up did not appear. That meant I actually had to read it, though Phyrra did help me figure it out on the ride back to Beacon. In between us getting alternatively scorned and ignored by Glynda, I'd checked what was in the bag as well, and she'd found me some metal boots and gauntlets, along with a simple helmet. It wasn't full plate armor, but combined with my current armour it would have to do for now. We'd been sent back to our room while Glynda debriefed with Ozpin, and it was in out front of our room that we heard a loud crash.

"Did that just come from inside?" I asked, while knowing that it clearly did.

"Yes." Phyrra replied curtly, swiping her scroll against the door and storming away from me. She was still a little bit mad about how I'd acted back at Gale's, but I found it hard to be concerned about that with my new sword on my back. Especially knowing what it could do now! At least she unlocked the room before she left, I still had no idea how to use a scroll. Maybe I could find a skill book for one of those, too?

Never again would I have to climb stairs to reach that one cowardly bandit that shoots arrows from the top of an irrelevant broken down tower though. Now it's as easy as pressing a button and holding on, and I'll be shot up almost as fast as a Whirlwind Sprint! I was in a good mood for the first time in a while, and as soon as I walked through the door that good mood turned to sudden confusion as I tried to process what was going on.

There was a short girl in a short dress jumping on one bed, and a well-toned naked man with only a towel around his waist on the other. "Observe."

 **Lie Ren**

 **He Who Is Closed, Yet Open**

 **LVL. 21**

 **Nora Valkyrie**

 **She Who Is Open, Yet Closed**

 **LVL. 26**

Shit, they're strong.

Ren looked at me oddly, to which I looked oddly at him in return. Nora jumped off the bed in between us and got into my face. I stood my ground, despite the over-whelming scent of sweet-rolls wafting off of her, and was incredibly creeped out when she whispered.

"Counter-Observe."

Then in the blink of an eye was back to bouncing on the bed. I raised an eye brow and looked to Ren for an explanation, but he just shrugged.

"I'm... " Now comes the dilemma. "Your team-mate, Jaune Arc, but I go by Torga."

"How do you get Torga from Jaune Arc?"

"It's a nickname." I said quickly, to which Ren shrugged once more. I dropped the duffel bag down at the foot of my own bed, glad to finally have something of my own in this place. I took off my sword as well and leaned it up against the wall, then looked back to them. I already knew their names, but I suppose I should ask. "I assume you two already know each other.." I started.

"We've been friends forever!" Nora exclaimed. "Ren makes the best pancakes, and I looove~ pancakes!"

"About 8 years. Village was attacked by Grimm, Nora and I were the only ones that made it out." he said calmly.

"That's… awfully forward of you to share." I said, though he shrugged again.

"We're going to be team-mates for the next four years. It would be best to get to know each other and avoid surprises."

Nora pouted as she sat down on her bed. "But I _like_ surprises!"

"Speaking of surprises, I thought you were healing up from the forest?" I asked Ren, content to ignore Nora for now despite her being the stronger of the two. Their attitude and behaviour had put me at ease, though that also could have been the Gamer's Mind at work.

Shrugging seemed to be his thing, as he did it once more. "My semblance is Aura Control. I don't project my Aura in any sort of special power but it does exactly what I need it to. By focusing all of it on the wound, I accelerated my healing time, and now here we are."

"That sounds both mediocre and incredibly useful." I attempted to complement.

He sighed, without a shrug. "It is."

"What about yours, Nora?" She had taken to bouncing in between hers, Rens, and Phyrra's beds. Luckily I kept mine occupied.

"Leg breaking!" She exclaimed, as she flipped through the air. "Whee!"

"She can channel electricity to her muscles. She's essentially super strong." I nodded, filing that away despite having no idea what electricity was. That was likely the reason she had such a high level. Or was she strong _because_ she had a high level? I was still kind of confused by my power. I had leveled up twice, but I didn't feel any stronger. I made a note to bring up my status menu when I was alone or with Phyrra again.

"How about yours, Torga? What's your semblance?"

"I actually have no idea. I think I know what it is, but I've never used it."

"How'd you get into Beacon without using a semblance? That's one of the things they look for, a semblance that can be useful in the types of situations hunters get into."

"Dumb luck, I guess." Ren gave me a slightly more wary shrug at that, then stood and walked into a technological marvel of a washroom. I lay back on my bed and brought up the status screen.

 **Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **LVL: 5**

 **Race: Human**

 **Title: The Displaced One (-90% to AP, -30% to WIS)**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: 80%**

 **HP: 150**

 **AP: 3 (The Displaced One)**

 **STR: 7 (+)**

 **VIT: 5 (+)**

 **AGI: 4 (+)**

 **INT: 2 (+)**

 **WIS: 3 (+)**

 **LUK: 2 (+)**

 **STAT: 10**

 **TITLE: The Displaced One:** **You have no idea where you are, what's going on, or how people are doing the things that they are doing. You don't belong here, and you know it. Unlock your semblance to remove this Title.**

It looked pretty much the same, except for the WIS point I had gained earlier. This STAT area was completely new, and as I wondered what it was, another box popped up.

 **Status Points:** **Expendable points that are gained upon leveling up. Each of these points can be allocated into any of your stats. Note that these points cannot be used on Skills, only your stats.**

My eyes widened briefly. If I could place these points wherever I wanted, I could easily double any of my stats! I could become 5 times smarter, wiser, even _luckier._ I could become the strongest man in the world, by just doing quests and gaining levels.

Though what use would strength be if I wasn't fast enough to utilize it? I immediately placed 2 of my points into intelligence, and 3 more into wisdom. I had decisions to make, and I wanted them to be smart ones. I would need to learn a lot to survive here, and if intelligence will help me remember, than it could only help. Next I contemplated my other stats.

It was really a choice between STR, VIT, and AGI. Did I want to be faster, stronger, or more able to take a hit?

Given all of the encounters in my time here so far, I was outclassed in terms of speed, very much so. I had also almost died against Jeremy, so VIT was looking awfully tempting. If stats raised by using them, STR should come through daily exercise, though VIT and AGI were little harder to discern.

I made my decision, placing 4 points into AGI and 1 into VIT. Another box popped up.

 **[Confirm]/[Cancel]**

I poked confirm, and both the status window and the pop-up window disappeared. My muscles clenched up and I sucked in some breath as I felt the changes take hold, though the cramping pain only lasted for a second. When it ended, I felt… different. The world seemed to be moving at a slightly slower pace, and I felt like I could see more of what was around me. I also knew exactly what it was that I should be doing right now. I'd already had the idea in my head, but now it seemed like more of a plan than an idea. I pushed the stupid voice that told me I'd wasted my points on my currently handicapped WIS to the back of my mind.

"Hey Nora." I said, looking over at her. She was still jumping on the bed, giggling to herself. When I said her name she jumped once more then landed on the edge of her bed, looking at me.

"Yess?"

"I'm going to go find Phyrra. Is there anywhere around here that we can train? I mean, there obviously will be, but will Phyrra be able to find it too?"

"Why not just call her on her scroll?"

I blinked. "What now?"

She pulled out her own scroll. It seemed that everyone had one of these things. She tapped it a few times, and before long Phyrra's voice came out of it as if she was standing in Nora's palm. I'd only seen something like this from the Daedra, voices without origin, though it seemed that it was commonplace here. Powerful magic, though I was starting to doubt it even was magic. If not that, what else could it be?

"Hello?"

"Hello!" Nora greeted her through the scroll as I sat in amazement. It would have taken me at least an hour to find her, more because I didn't have access to Aura Whisper or any of my other shouts. "Torga wants to train, can you meet us at…" She tapped her scroll a few more times. "Training field 3? It's open to new teams."

A huff was heard through the scroll. "We aren't a team until we pass the exam. I'm assuming this is Nora."

"Yep! See you in 10 minutes!" She tapped the scroll once more, then put it back in her pocket. "Alrighty, let's go fight each other!"

"What about Ren?" I asked, still hearing the sound of a waterfall coming from the washroom.

She jumped up, opened the door to an exasperated sigh from the occupant, and yelled "Training Field 3!" through the door. She then grabbed my arm and I had barely enough time to grab my sword as she pulled me through the door and into the hallway.

* * *

The training field was just that, a large field. Nothing special about it, just a flat expanse of grass with a wooden bench at the side. We had been the first to arrive, and Ren had shown up at some point after that though I hadn't noticed he was there until he was behind me. Sneaky bastard, he was.

My plan had been to simply fight in a controlled environment, as in the last fight I had almost lost my new life. I had gained skills, though, and those skills could be leveled up through use. So, until it was time to do quests, I could only train my body and my skills, not my overall level. Figures that it would involve me taking damage. I'd asked Ren if he could heal others, but his Aura Control only applied to his own aura. He could see other people's aura's just fine, which was good to know I think. I'd forgotten my extra armour in the room, so my aura was my main defense at this point.

Given that I was a much lower level, and that their weapons looked much higher-tech than mine, I had no idea how to go about this without getting pulverized.

Ren had the solution, seeing my hesitation. With a few taps from his scroll, wooden posts rose from the ground on the other side of the field. "To start, let's see what each other can do. Take out one target from here, one as you're approaching, then finish the last off with a melee strike. Nora, would you like to go first?"

She grinned then spun her hammer in a speedy twirl before it shifted into a short, blocky rifle that fired off a huge projectile in a lobbing arc. Before the projectile had even gotten half way, she had transformed her weapon into its hammer form once more and had taken off after it. As the projectile collided with the post in a pink explosion that splintered the target into nothing, she jumped and struck her hammer against the ground, cratering it and launching herself forwards. In the blink of an eye she had thrown her hammer at the second post, another explosion shattering that one, then as it spun in the air she grabbed it and swung it at the final one, hitting it on the head like a nail and driving it back into the ground.

The miraculous part was that it had taken all of three seconds, a shorter time than it would have taken me to sprint to the targets. I was in awe of the power that this unassuming girl wielded, and wanted it for myself. Would I be that strong, that co-ordinated, that fast when I rose to level 27? I was only level 5 right now, comparatively weak.

"Torga, you're up." Ren nodded at her display without so much as a twitch, and I contemplated how I was going to go about this. I knew what my weapon could do, but at this range I couldn't hit the targets. I couldn't throw my sword that far, I couldn't shoot the harpoon as it would never reach. I could not hit my enemy, and for some reason that infuriated me.

I was loath to admit it, but… "I can't hit those from here. I have a mid-range weapon." Ren shrugged.

"Go closer, then."

I nodded, and began my sprint towards the next three poles. In my minds eye, I saw the point on the ground where my harpoon should be able to strike one of the targets, and as I reached that point, I fired.

The projectile sailed just to the right of one of the poles, but with the quick flipping of a couple switches, the hooks deployed along with the winch and I yanked the harpoon back, gouging thick cuts into the pole but it did not break. I fired again as soon as I had the harpoon reloaded, this time piercing through a pole but not the one I was aiming for. I activated the winch as I leaped off the ground, sending me flying towards the targets.

 **Through a special action, you have obtained the Skill "Grapple"!**

I fell short, though with two targets having been struck I had only one left. Reeling in the harpoon, I rushed forwards and sliced the last pole in half, the keen edge of the sword parting the wood easily.

I huffed, out of breath. That was a much more agile approach than I would usually dare make, but I felt like I had to keep up with my team, else I be dropped outside of the walls. I could give Ozpin no reason to dismiss me from the school, for if the Elder Scroll planted me here, than it was her eI was meant to be.

Nora looked at me funnily for a second, then giggled. "That's a pretty cool sword, Tor."

I raised an eyebrow. "Haven't heard that one before."

"You need to work on your aim." Ren said from behind me. I whirled around, seeing him standing without any sign of fatigue, and the other three poles riddled with holes, sliced in half, and brutally splintered.

"And your.. Well.. Everything." Nora added.

"I know. I'm a quick learner, though." It was true, I had gained a level in Harpoon Mastery and gotten a new skill as well, which should make things easier. I brought up the screen.

 **Grapple [Active]**

 **AP:10**

 **By using a combination of a rope and a winch, you can impale targets and use them as anchors to launch yourself forwards!**

 **Deals 50% of damage**

 **Chance to Stagger target**

Did I tell them about my ability, knowing that it wasn't my semblance? Would that be too odd? Or would Phyrra just tell them anyways?

"He has to work on his ethics, too, if he wants to be a Huntsman." Ironically, Phyrra had arrived with that guilt-inducing barb, though the guilt also quickly dissipated due to the Gamer's Mind.

"We can do that later." I retorted. "I need to improve enough to live through our next exam, first. Once we finalize my survival, then you can complain about my attitude."

She spared me a minor look of disgust. I had a sudden urge to punch her, but out of my own safety I didn't.

I was a skeever among giants, any of these people could crush me easily and I could barely take out a wooden pole as I was now.

"Let us spar. You three against myself." I immediately started thinking about how to tackle her as an opponent. Phyrra may have been the strongest, but I was willing to bet that Nora could still crush her, and with her causing a distraction, Ren could sneak in to deliver stealthy blows. I could… What could I do?

Since this was a friendly training match, I could run in and get her to hit me, bring up my Physical Endurance some more. Though, with a bit more thought I realized she would hit me regardless, so I would need to focus on something else.

My Longsword mastery was thankfully high enough, or so I thought it was for now. I could use some work on the harpoon portion as that would allow me greater battlefield mobility. With the explosions and rifles everyone seemed to carry, mobility would be a great asset. I decided not to use Taunt, as giving Phyrra more power to work with didn't seem like a good idea.

As we separated, I made my decision. I would harpoon her from a distance, Grapple in if I missed and hit the ground, and attempt to either punch or kick her to raise my Unarmed Mastery. I figured that Unarmed would be useful no matter the situation or weapon, and my harpoon needed that extra range.

Ren had the same idea. "Nora, use your hammer. I'll try to hit her blind spot. Torga… just try to distract her." Wow, I knew I was bad, but they didn't need to keep rubbing it in. My slight anger faded quickly, and I couldn't decide whether or not this Gamer's Mind was a blessing or a curse.

* * *

Phyrra slaughtered us. I had gotten 5 more levels to harpoon mastery and 3 to grapple, but a whopping 10 levels to physical endurance from the beating she gave me.

She dodged almost all of our attacks, though she dodged every single one of mine. I got 1 level in Unarmed from when she had used my elbow to strike Ren in the face, before throwing me into a wooden post. Nora and Ren looked ready to go another round though breathing slightly heavily, but I was done. I was exhausted, though thankfully not sore. There were three bars in the bottom of my vision, of blue red and green, and all of them were close to empty.

Ren had told me my aura was too low to continue and had risen up three more poles for me to practice aiming against. By doing that over and over I had gotten another 2 levels to Harpoon Mastery, though the skill seemed to increase a lot quicker when I was using it against an opponent rather than a target.

My aim was noticeably better though, as was my range. I had an extra 9 meters on top of the current 50 I had from the weapon itself. As I trained my Harpoon Mastery further, the other three members of my team sparred at a much faster rate than before when I had been with them, and I realized they were pulling their punches for me. That infuriated me more than anything.

I was faster, smarter, stronger. I was wiser and had cutting-edge weaponry at my disposal.

Yet I was still not good enough.

Not yet.

* * *

 **I was watching RWBY Chibi. It's pretty awesome.**

 **Season 3 Soundtrack is also awesome.**

 **So are you guys. You're the most awesome. Have another chapter.**

 **Sorry if you use the Imperial measurement system, Torga has a hatred of anything Imperial so meters will be the unit of measurement. It's also easier to do the behind the scenes math with.**

 **My spreadsheet grows ever larger.**

 **Just an explanation, Jaune is dead. Imagine him, as he was pre-exam, being transported to the Throat of the World. There will be nothing more to do with Skyrim beyond occasional shout-outs from Torga to the lore and fauna/flora.**

 **Beyond all that, I have a decent plan for the second exam and can't wait to write it.**

 **Thanks for the reviews, thanks for the views, and thanks for standing by while I try to get this story off of its ass and into the meat.**

 **~HHR**


	7. Chapter 6: Initiation Exam Part 2! Pt1!

We stood on platforms overlooking a cliff, which in turn overlooked a forest. This was apparently a standard thing is this world, as it looked remarkably similar to the original forest I'd woken up in. I knew it wasn't, though. Glynda had been roped into supervising us for this portion of our exam, though she would not be descending into the woods with us. We were to combat the Grimm alone. Phyrra was still not talking to me, despite the last three days spent doing nothing but training as a team. We'd developed a strategy, more or less. Nora would obviously be the forefront of most of our strategies, while Ren would be hitting while our opponent was distracted by her. I would be hopping in and out to both keep myself safe and deal what damage I could with my sword, and Phyrra was the wild card, able to do any of our roles as needed.

With the exception of Nora, she could actually perform any of our roles better. I wanted to hate her for it, but I couldn't. In a way, her anger towards me was right.

I had learned a lot about the world. About how the creatures of Grimm were drawn to negative energy, about how the kingdoms were the only relatively safe spaces in the world. Skyrim was a terribly dangerous place, but at least the majority of roads were traversable with a mercenary or two guarding you.

Here, it was suicide to go anywhere without Hunters or a heavily armed airship. Ren finally told me that not every gun was a rifle, and I got to know my team-mates weapons. I could use basic functions on a scroll, though as soon as I pulled out the map a box had popped up saying that with just the word "Minimap" I would be able to create a box that would show me a map regardless so I only used it for keeping track of time and for getting a hold of my team-mates.

I found myself getting closer to Ren, due to a combination of him being closer to my level and because I felt like he still didn't care that I had been ready to kill someone who had attempted to kill me. Nora was slightly more hesitant but after a few minutes she had been fine with me as well. I'd explained myself, and only Phyrra still seemed to harbour resentment towards me. Perhaps it was due to Nora and Ren's past that they were slightly more forgiving of my kill or be killed mentality, but I was happy to not be completely alienated. I was beginning to like my team.

The decision of leadership was obvious to me so far. Nora was powerful but seemed too bubbly to coordinate a team, especially when she would always be in the thick of battle. Phyrra was too often a loner in combat, and while she was especially deadly and had a handle on battlefield tactics, I felt her moral code would get in the way and possibly cost one of us our lives. I wouldn't be killed because she wanted to apprehend a criminal when it would be safer to kill it.

That left Ren. he was cool, calm, and collected in almost every situation. He thought things through and while he wasn't the strongest, he could see weak points and accurately gauge how the team was doing by his ability to sense Aura. He would be able to accurately place Phyrra in the role she was needed in, and come up with a plan of attack on the fly. This exam was as much me examining my team as Ozpin examining us, but I wouldn't let that stop me. I was anxious to prove myself, and have a second chance at fighting the Grimm.

Phyrra had helped me train with my stats in mind, so I felt she was slowly coming around, but if I managed to stay in the school I would give her a formal apology for my behaviour and hopefully mend the rift. Her reputation rating was lowering by the day, and I didn't want that to go on any longer than absolutely necessary, especially not if I was to be trusting her to watch my back.

The exam would be nearly identical to the last one, though with only us being launched into the forest, the odds of us encountering greater amounts of Grimm were high. There was simply no other targets for them. I appreciated a challenge, though was not used to fighting these beasts, not yet at least. As far as I could tell, the only way to combat the Grimm was with overwhelming firepower, something I was unable to bring to bear yet.

We soared through the air after being catapulted from the cliff. I'd thought about my landing strategy long and hard, eventually deciding that I would use my new Grapple skill in order to halt my fall. That in mind, I set my eyes on a tall tree, and pointed my sword towards it.

My Grapple skill had risen enough levels, along with my harpoon mastery, that I was fairly confident I could make the shot. That didn't stop me from waiting until I was closer to take it, I didn't want to take unnecessary risks when the failure would consist of me in a broken heap on the ground. I still found the start of this exam insane, but with the agility and acrobatic skill I'd seen from the other students, it made a sick kind of sense.

Against beings as powerful as the Grimm that could send you flying with a single solid hit, those that could not recover and land ready to fight were doomed to death, and it would be a waste of time and resources to train such a person. It also taught quick thinking, though since I knew it was coming that didn't really apply.

With a twitch of a finger I fired the harpoon, sighing in relief as it sunk into the trunk of my intended tree. I held on tightly to the sword as I was wrapped around the tree, and slammed into the bark with enough force to cause my AP to take a minor hit.

In the past couple of days, I'd also discovered the "Aura Mastery" Skill. It allowed me to use my aura to block hits and take damage to my AP instead of my HP, though without AP I would be unable to use any of my active skills like Grapple or Power Strike. That didn't matter too much, because Longsword and Harpoon Mastery didn't require AP, but it still limited my options. When I could take a hit with my HP instead, I would, as my armor would help negate damage and I didn't actually get injured anymore regardless.

The first thing I had to do was find my team. We'd decided that if after 30 minutes we couldn't find each other, we would rendezvous at the crest of the hill in the distance and go from there. I'd seen a part of the clearing while I was airborne, so I had a rough idea of where it was. My direction vaguely in mind, I set off.

I came upon my first Grimm in about 5 minutes. "Observe"

 **Young Ursa Minor**

 **LVL. 11**

There were two of them, and I had hoped to gain the element of surprise but as soon as I was in sight, they turned to me as a pair and roared.

I felt ready, though. Not ready enough to use many active skills as my AP pool was still pathetically small, but with the bonuses granted from my passive skills I felt it wouldn't be difficult.

As the first Grimm charged me, I charged back, instantly aware of the almost unfair improvement in my skills. This was a heavier opponent than the Beowolves, though having fought trolls back in Skyrim I kept the same strategy in mind. Keep out of range, counter-attacks only, and whittle away at their natural armor until they succumbed to their wounds. As far as I knew, these beasts didn't have any regenerative abilities so at least this would be slightly easier. As it leaped and raised a paw for a strike, I halted my charge and jumped back, causing it to land right in front of me.

I wasted no time, hitting it twice with my sword before rolling away from the second Ursa. The first had lost a little bit of health, though it would take at least 10 more hits along those lines to kill it.

The battle lasted for 5 minutes. It would have been shorter if it was a one-on-one duel, but it wasn't and I was forced to dodge when I would rather be attacking. Due to cautious tactics, I didn't take much in the way of damage, but one glancing blow had dropped my AP down to dangerous levels, and I had to de-activate my Aura to prevent Aura Exhaustion from setting in. this meant I was out of luck if I had wanted to use any of my skills.

With the bear-like Grimm dissolving behind me, I continued into the forest. This particular patch of greenery seemed darker and more dead than the Emerald Forest. I attributed that to the fact that it was outside of the city walls, and as such there were dead leaves and felled branches strewn about in various states of decay. I had my first true glimpse of life outside the walls, and I imagined it wasn't even that bad - from what Phyrra had said, the world of Remnant was much more dangerous than this patch of land.

Our objective during this examination was simple: find each other, group up, and capture a live Grimm to bring back. I wasn't quite sure how it was we would be able to do that, but that was something to figure out once we were together once more.

A roar sounded from behind me before an explosion sent me flying forwards. I righted myself mid-air, and though I landed with my feet on the ground I still tumbled backwards. I did manage to see Nora standing over another, larger Ursa, though with the monster defeated I had to actively use my Observe skill to discern the species. One might think that having just fought Ursae, I'd be able to recognize them.

Whoever thought that hadn't accounted for the Nora factor. The beast's skull had been obliterated and its neck was mangled to the point of resembling meat loaf.

"Hey Tori!"

"Hello Nora."

"Any clue where we're going?" She asked, stepping off of the slowly dissolving corpse.

"To the hill, I guess. I didn't expect to find anyone before the time was up so we can just head there and wait." I said.

She nodded. "Sounds good to me!"

So we continued. We happened upon a small pack of Beowolves that I personally would have had an issue with, though I got to see Nora in action. She was amazing, using the explosives provided by her weapon to propel herself through the air in intricate flips and twists, every strike with purpose and devastating effect. I stayed on the fringes of what could only be described as a massacre, slashing at my 3 opponents until they fell and then firing my harpoon into the mix when I was sure I wouldn't hit the hammer-wielding warrior.

At one point, as The harpoon had just stuck into a particularly large Beowolf, and she simply landed on it, hopped back up into the air, and continued her crusade against the Grimm. Not only that, but she did it without changing her bubbly personality and utilizing a hammer of a greater size than many men in Skyrim would be capable of even lifting.

 **Your level has increased by one! The skill Harpoon Mastery's level has increased by one!**

I ducked behind a tree and quickly brought up my status page. I already knew where I wanted to put my status points, and immediately suck all five into intelligence, bringing it up to 9. This also had the desired effect of nearly doubling my AP, something that I had decided needed to happen. I also had to discover my semblance to remove that title, but would the new title from passing the exam replace it instead, or would I still have to deal with being "The Displaced One"?

Only time would tell. Speaking of time, Nora finished off our enemies in short order and looked no worse for wear from the encounter.

"There will be more." She said. "Especially with that attitude you've got."

"What attitude? This is just how I am." I replied, confused.

"I doubt it." She replied, smile still on her face. "You seem like someone who's used to having things go their way. The way I see it, things aren't going your way right now. I won't pry, but you've got to figure yourself out. Otherwise, you'll attract more and more Grimm until you get one of, or even all of us killed." She continued walking after that, the usual spring in her step, and my perception of her drastically changed.

Before, I had seen a little girl, silly and naive, with power that didn't make sense for her to have. Now I saw what I thought was the truth. She had power, but she also cared about those around her. She's trained herself to emit happiness in order to become invisible to the Grimm. When I thought about it, the entire team had, besides for myself.

Ren was calm, taking things in stride and efficiently working out a solution. Phyrra had the confidence to fight and avoid panic, and inspired that same confidence in those around her. Nora was either sure of her power and used that as an excuse to lighten up, or was actually just that… Nora-ish.

I was a grumpy old man in young mans body, stuck in a place where I had no allies and no idea what the fuck was going on. The Gamer's Mind had assisted me in processing these things I saw, but it was still a lot to take in. Here in the forest, it was a little bit more like home, and for now I would let that be my solace.

* * *

After 2 hours and another couple of skirmishes with small amounts of Grimm, we made it to the hill where Phyrra was waiting underneath a tree. She sat cross-legged, her sword and shield on the ground in front of her. She was almost meditating, but with her eyes open and scanning for threats.

"Hi Phyrra! Have you seen Ren?" She nodded upwards into the tree, and Nora leapt up without a second breath. I saw a few leaves fall, then a giggle. I approached Phyrra.

"Jaune." She said, though it was simply an acknowledgement of my presence, and nothing more.

"Phyrra." I replied, sitting down beside her. At this she did close her eyes and pretend to be meditating, but a slight twitch of her ear proved that was not the truth. "Whatever resentment you may harbour towards me must end. If the Grimm are drawn to negative energy, this will be bad for the team. Also, my actual name would be pleasant."

"You're a murderer." She stated.

I nodded, then spoke because I knew she couldn't see me. "Yes. I have murdered before, and I shall again."

"How do you expect me to work with someone like that?" Her eyes snapped open and she turned her head towards me. "How am I supposed to sleep with you in the same room, knowing that every time I close my eyes it could be the last time?"

"You haven't tried to kill me, so I wouldn't try to kill you. You seem to have a very black-or-white interpretation of crimes, something my people had an issue with as well." I told her.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I won't say I didn't enjoy some of my kills. I also won't say that after a time, I got good at it. What I will tell you, though, is that had you been in my position, I highly doubt you could have done any different." I attempted to stay calm. How did one justify apparent evil to a paragon of virtue? It simply wasn't done.

She scoffed and turned away, gathering her weapons and attempting to stand. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back down, but in a flash her sword was at my throat. She held it there as we locked eyes, and I saw the fire and fury within. "Don't you dare tell me I will become a murderer. The day I kill is the day I've already failed."

I didn't flinch. Oh, I desperately wanted to back away, but the calming effects of my ability told me that if I backed down, she would see me as afraid of her. I couldn't have that, even if it was semi-true."What happens when it's your life on the line?"

She stared at me still, gaze unflinching.

"What happens when only you can prevent the deaths of innocents, if only you can eradicate a great evil? What if by killing a few, you save the majority?" I asked, my own emotion rising up within me. "What happens when it's not only your own morality on the line, Phyrra?!"

She pulled back slightly, but I followed forward, refusing to let her sword leave my throat. "What about right now, with your blade ready to end my life? If I pulled out my sword right now and tried to kill you, or Ren, or Nora, would you be able to stop me without killing me?"

She shook her head. "Of course! You wouldn't do that, would you?"

"I don't know! Not right now, or in the immediate future, but if something happened where I had to choose between people I cared about, people I _loved_ , or you, I think you would know my decision!" Again, memories of my family rose to mind, which I quickly squashed down. "What if you couldn't stop me without killing me? What if, one day you were woken in the middle of the night, went to check on your _only son_ , and found a man with a bloody knife standing over his corpse! WOULD YOU STAY YOUR BLADE THEN?!" I shouted, breathing heavily.

I saw her eyes change in that moment. They changed from cold anger, drifting quickly through many emotion, then right to pity.

"Torga, I-"

"There's no way you could have known." I told her coldly. "Nobody could have known, because I don't talk about it. Now, with this bullshit power, I can. I can speak about them without feeling the uncontrollable rage that threatens to consume me. So tell me, Phyrra. Knowing that of all the men and women I killed, the majority were bandits, rapists and thieves. Knowing that the rest were corrupt leaders, hired assassins, or my own brothers-in-arms. Knowing that I only ever killed one innocent, and by ignorance rather than intention. Knowing what you now know, can you blame me for my apparent sins?"

"I… I don't know." She still stared at me with pity.

I grabbed her sword from its point in front of my throat, squeezing it as I deactivated my aura. I waited until her eyes dropped down to the blood that was leaking out of my grip, then pushed the sword away and stood. "Then let my blood soak your blade, if that is what you wish. My Aura is down." I dropped my own sword on the ground. "I am unarmed. Kill me if you wish to kill me. If you don't then quit acting like you have a bone to pick, and maybe we can work together as a team."

Something hit my back, and I flinched, surprised that she would actually call my bluff. Until I realized that two arms wrapped around me, and she was pressed against my back. "I'm sorry, Torga." I moved to shake out of her grip by her wrist guards clanged together and wouldn't budge, effectively pinning my arms to my sides. "Stop, listen. I barely knew Jaune before he was ripped away. He was a good guy, a knight in shining armour. He may not have had a landing strategy, but I'm willing to bet that he was a very heart-filled warrior and I was looking forward to working with him, even from a different team. I learned that his Aura was scattered to the wind, and his consciousness ripped from his body and replaced by that of a cynical murderer. I was angry, upset at the friendship I would never get to make and I took it out on you. Everyone knows me as The Invincible Girl, they're intimidated by me, and Jaune… so sweet, and so simple. He didn't even know me."

"I don't know you." I pointed out.

"I said listen." She said, though I could tell she was running out of steam. "I closed myself off from the fact that you were almost identical in situation. You may seem grumpy, but I know there's a heart of gold in you, I do now at least. I'm truly sorry."

I pushed my arms apart now, and she let her own fall to her sides. I turned about to face her. "You shouldn't apologize for your beliefs, even if they're wrong. You learned what you did, when you did, and any other reaction or attempt to hide true feelings would be fake. I detest liars almost as much as murderers. You've seen my side, so I'll see it from yours, as much as I can at least. This place is much more… light than where I come from. I see that it's out of necessity to avoid the Grimm, but.. What I'm saying is that it's all fine. If what you said about your apology is the truth, then I hold no hard feelings."

She nodded. "It is the truth, I swear it."

I let a pained grin cross my face. "Good to hear."

"Not exactly as I thought, but pretty close." I jumped as Ren gracefully slid from the branches of the tree.

"I thought we'd be up there forever!" Nora shouted as she followed him down with significantly less grace.

I blanched as I realized that they had heard the whole thing. Ren noticed that I had noticed, and was quick to comment. "No worries about your past from us, Torga. If you say that you did what you did for good reason, than I believe you. We're a team, and trust is necessary."

I nodded in turn. "Damn right." I looked over the three of them, realizing for what felt like the first time that my fate would be intertwined with the man and women in front of me for at least a few years, if not for life.

If trust were to happen, it had to go both ways, so with a sigh, I spoke. "If trust is to be our standard and honesty our creed, I have something to share."

I told them everything.

* * *

 **So far, so good. It's a bit annoying writing for him when he's so weak, but whatever. The story will go on, don't you worry!**

 **~HHR**


	8. Chapter 7: Initiation Exam Part 2! Pt2!

I sat myself back down against the tree, taking a deep breath. I had told my story before, once or twice, but it usually involved a whole lot of mead, and a lot of events being left out.

Now, I knew, was not the time for either of those things.

"I'll start by summing up my childhood. I was nothing special, just a low-born son of a miller. My father was killed by a pack of wolves when I was 8, and my ma took over the business. She was a strong woman, mourned for a night or two then got right back to work. Told me 'Torga, your father was never one to mope and the same goes for us, else we bring shame to his memory'. And that was that. I started helping out and that's how things went for about 7 years.

"Skyrim, my home, was in the middle of a civil war. The Imperial fuckers decided that Skyrim was to be part of their empire, while Ulfric Stormcloak and his rebels disagreed. There's a lot of reasons for that war but it's over now. Before it ended, I was captured by the Imperials under the excuse of me being a Stormcloak. In reality, I was simply looking for straight trees.

"I was knocked out, bound, and gagged. When I came to, I was in the back of a horse-cart with a stormcloak soldier and Ulfric, leader of the rebels. There were a couple of nameless prisoners as well, but those two were the ones I would remember. We were being sent to be executed."

Nora gasped. "You didn't do anything wrong, though!"

I grimaced. "Trust me, I told them that. I was in the cart, and so I had to die. Obviously I didn't, but one Stormcloak lost his life." I chuckled. "He was a loud-mouth too, insulted those Imperials until his head rolled. It was my turn when Alduin came."

"Alduin?" Ren quizzically raised an eyebrow.

"The Eater of Worlds, a dragon so powerful that many regarded him as a god. Ironically, he caused enough of a distraction for me to escape through the tunnels beneath Helgen, the city I was in. It was a good thing, too, because Helgen was wiped right off the map. I made my way back home to Riverwood, where my ma sent me to the Jarl of our region to ask for guards in case of a dragon attack.

"I made the trip, secured troops from the Jarl, and was sent on a mission by the court wizard to retrieve a map of dragon burial sites. The common idea was that the dragons were coming back to life, though we wouldn't learn the truth until much later. It was on that mission that I murdered my first man." I paused for effect.

"Bleak Falls Barrow. An old resting place for my ancestors. Not mine personally, but all Nords have a respect for the dead. Those that don't.. Well, a group of bandits had made the barrow their home. I nearly died trying to get through them. Stupid, I was, to walk right up the steps shouting 'Hello? Is this Bleak Falls Barrow?'

"The only thing I got for my manners was an arrow into the arm, and with nothing on me but my cheap leather armor and a chipped axe, I cut my way through them like a scythe through wheat. I picked up a battle-ax at some point, but the killing of the bandits was almost instinct.

"As I made my way further into the barrows, draugr emerged and challenged me for every foot of progress. With my axe it was not too difficult to put them down but there were so many and I was still wounded from the bandits. I eventually found the Dragonstone, and returned to the wizard."

"You mentioned… draugr. What is that?" Phyrra asked.

Right, these people have probably never seen one. "A draugr is a dead body that is re-animated for the purpose outlined by the magician who resurrects them."

"They brought people back to life?!" Phyrra exclaimed, eyes wide. I quickly shook my head at her to dispel any thoughts of conjuration magic from her mind.

"Not in any recognizable way. The draugr could not speak, could not reason, and would attack anything living on sight. They would lie in wait for centuries, guarding their burial places jealously for within most barrows were gems, sacred weapons, and gold galore. Regardless, as I brought the Dragonstone back, word arrived of a nearby dragon attack. Impressed with my actions, the Jarl gifted me a basic set of heavy armor and sent me to go help fend off this dragon. I borrowed a horse and rode.

"In the end, only his housecarl and myself were left alive. 12 men died to that beast before we got it to the ground, and I almost lost my own life before I separated its head from its body.

"That was when I learned of my power. As the dragon died, I absorbed its… well I guess you could say I absorbed its aura. I shouted a word in the dragon tongue, and knocked the housecarl into a crumbling wall. Not soon after I received a summons from the Greybeards, masters of the Voice, and hermits living atop a giant mountain. I made the journey alone, and received my first formal training. I learned that I was a prophesied hero known as The Dovahkiin, which translates roughly to Dragonborn. It meant that when I killed a dragon, I absorbed its soul and gained that dragon's power. It also meant that my Voice got stronger, and because I was the only one that could permanently kill a dragon, it got quite a lot more powerful. Before anybody asks, I have been unable to use this power here so far. Personally I believe that it will turn out to be my semblance, as my time as a hero was the most important part of my life so far."

"If what you say is true, then that is likely to be the case." Phyrra noted.

"What could you do?" Ren asked, and I grinned.

"The power was incredible. Incredibly tempting to use for evil purposes, but for the most part I used it when I needed to and no more. I could breath fire, breath ice, solidly freeze my enemies. I could decay their armor, enhance my own hitting power, and become ethereal to avoid blows. I could see the auras of living things, I could rally animals to fight by my side, even disarm my opponents. I could call down lightning, bring dragons to the ground and call upon the spirits of Sovngarde to fight by my side. I could do plenty more, but I won't exhaust you with that many descriptions." The faces around me were amazed.

"That's… a lot of power." Phyrra mentioned.

"Can you make yourself super strong?" Nora asked hopefully.

I chuckled. "Something like that. Once I had killed many dragons, I gained the ability to call upon my dragon aspect. I would essentially transform into a dragon-like version of myself, gaining incredible strength and near-impenetrable armor. My shouts also all got stronger. I myself was also very strong, I had went from swinging an axe all day to running across the province in heavy armor swinging around a bigger axe. There was no time to become soft. That's part of the reason I'm having difficulties with combat, I'm using a smaller and weaker body than I am used to."

"That must be strange." Ren said, to which I nodded.

"You have no idea. Regardless, my adventure continued. I met friends and enemies, quelled a civil war, stopped the vampire uprising-"

"Actual vampires? The ones that glitter in the sun?" Nora asked, excited.

"Ha! As if. Actual vampires burn in the sun, with rare exceptions. They were exceedingly fast and on par with my strength under the Dragon Aspect. I kept a mercenary nearby and lent him Dawnbreaker, a sword gifted to me by the Daedric Prince Meridia. It was enchanted to have powerful effects against undead, as well as set living foes aflame at a touch. Bastard ran off with the sword the first night, saw him drained of blood later the next day. Throughout all of my adventures, I came across an orphanage run by a miserable bitch of a woman. At first I thought she was just rude and mean to the children there, but I explored the orphanages cellar and what I found there sickened me. I won't recount it, but I killed the keeper of the orphanage. That was my first murder in cold blood. Aye, she drew her dagger to protect herself but against a warrior of my caliber in full plate and with an axe out of legend, she had no chance."

"It must have been horrible."

"I pray you never have to know." I shuddered, the image of a small boy split vertically in two, entrails of various woodland creatures strewn between the halves over a ritual circle. "Little did I know, the remnants of the Dark Brotherhood had just received a contract for the very woman I had killed, and as such they kidnapped me in my sleep. Their… leader, Astrid, attempted to recruit me with a terrible mind game. Instead, I set her captives free, shouted the wall of the shack down, and held her off long enough for the prisoners to escape. I succumbed to either poison or magic, and awoke once more in a dark pit full of Frostbite Spiders. I escaped by the skin of my teeth.

"The Brotherhood never forgot though. None of the higher circle came themselves, but mercenary after mercenary was sent after me. It severely hampered my travels. I located and retrieved an Elder Scroll from a subterranean city, and used it atop the highest mountain in Skyrim to go back, to when the old heroes banished Alduin. I learned that their shout did not work against Alduin, though it did force the quasi-god to land. They had to resort to banishing him outside of time, for the next generation to deal with. I was the only hero of that generation, and so the burden fell right onto my shoulders. This knowledge in hand, I returned to the present to find my ally Paarthurnax in battle with the World-Eater himself, who had come to attempt to defeat me before I could defeat him.

"I talk down about Alduin, as if he was not a worthy opponent. In reality, the only time I found myself truly fearing for my soul was against him. I had the power of dozens of dragons, the knowledge of shouts long-forgotten by the dragons, and the advantage of having an equally ancient dragon on my side. We still almost lost. He had scales harder than diamond, breath that could melt stone, and could call meteors down from the heavens to smite his enemies. One glance by any of those rocks and I would have been flattened." The three were riveted to my every word, eyes wide, and in Phyrra's case, respect.

"We fought for hours. I used the ancient shout to force him to land, and Paarthurnax battled viciously when he took flight again. I had thought him defeated, but the cowardly wyrm fled to lick his wounds, using his power to travel to Sovngarde."

"You said Sovngarde was your afterlife?" Phyrra asked quietly.

I nodded. "Aye. Those who are warriors of great merit and skill, who die in battle, go to Sovngarde. There, we will fight on a great field every day and drink in the great mead hall at night. This will go on until the end of eternity, where the warriors of Sovngarde will finally battle against the forces of the Daedra for the rights to Nirn, our world."

"That can't be true. Nobody knows what happens when you die. How could you?" Ren looked skeptical.

I grinned. "Because I freed one of his slaves, flew atop him to Alduin's mountainside fortress, fought my way through it and followed him to Sovngarde."

"I don't believe you." Phyrra again. The other two seem content to listen most of the time, but it was as if Phyrra was analyzing every word.

I shrugged. "You don't have to. It makes no difference to me and there's no way I can prove it until I unlock my semblance."

"You can prove it then?"

"I'll call upon the warriors of Sovngarde that fought the beast with me to tell the story themselves. Would that suffice?" She shut her mouth, and I continued.

"I fought with the three I had seen when I had gone back in time. Alduin was devouring the souls of those who got lost on their way to Sovngarde, and we had to do something else our forces would be ill-prepared for our final battle. I could not tell you how long it was until Alduin fell, as time did not work as normal there. I couldn't tell you who struck the true final blow, but I absorbed Alduin's soul like all the rest. It did some-" A roar came from the forest, followed by a chorus of howling.

Ren narrowed his eyes and pulled two small -pistols, I believe- guns out of seemingly nowhere. Phyrra tensed, and Nora spun her hammer in a complicated series of twirls that I had trouble keeping up with. I pulled my Zweihander out of my back sheath, and set it into a ready position. As I did so, I realized I would have to adapt my style. I was great at fighting against other armed opponents, but against the Grimm, did it matter where I could block a sword from? Or did it matter if I could kill it first?

An Ursa barreled through the woods towards us. I quickly spotted two more, and still wasn't worried. All four of us in one spot, we could take on almost any enemy, I believed.

Then the howling came from behind us, and to the sides, and to the front. I knew wolves, Skyrim was full of them. We were utterly surrounded by more than 20 of them, and my confidence faltered. Clearly, so did that of my team-mates.

I heard a loud screech, and instinctively ducked down as a midnight-black feather whistled through the air and impaled the tree. Phyrra caught one on her shield, while Ren and Nora took cover, eyes scanning the treetops. I knew what it was.

That gods-damned bird.

"Fucker came back for another round eh?"

"It's a different one, Ruby killed the one that hit you!" Noa shouted.

"We need to find some open ground!" I shouted back. "We need room to maneuver!"

With what looked like a practiced motion, Nora leaped up into the tree, flipping to catch a branches with her legs so she was hanging upside down. Ren jumped up and grabbed her dangling hammer, and with a burst of inhuman strength, was launched up through the treetops.

I saw a Beowolf darting through trees at her unsuspecting back, and launched my harpoon at it. It struck the creatures haunch, the rope getting caught on a tree and stopping it mid-leap. I yanked back on the sword as I activated the winch, launching it back the way it came. Fortunately, it hit another Beowolf I hadn't seen and the two went soaring back.

I readied my weapon and turned to see how Phyrra was faring. She stood stock still, bullet after bullet leaving her rifle and every single one striking with purpose and power. Ren crashed through the tree-tops on top of one of the Ursae, crushing it beneath his weight and concentrated Aura.

 **Observe has gained a level!**

I honestly forget about my ability sometimes. "What way, Ren?"

He pointed off into the forest. "That way, a clearing!"

"Phyrra, take Nora and clear us a path. We'll be right behind you."

"No!" Phyrra spoke up as she continued her volley. More Grimm kept popping up by the second, and she was cutting them down almost as fast. It wouldn't be fast enough, though. "We're a team, we stick together!"

"We will!" I returned. "No time to explain it, just go damnit!" She glances at me out of the corner of her eye, huffed, then transformed her rifle into a spear and went after Nora.

"You just sent our heavy-hitters away as we're being swarmed by a literal horde of Grimm. Can I ask why?" Ren said as he reloaded his pistols. I set my feet and felt very nervous, but at the same time… it felt good. Outnumbered, but not outarmed. It was familiar, and I knew how to deal with these kinds of things.

 **Due to a special action, the perk Small Team Tactics (Beginner) has been acquired!**

 **From experience, you know the capabilities of your immediate allies and know how to utilize them to maximum potential.**

 **Grants 25% extra chance of success to plans against enemies of equal or lesser tactical skill.**

"You can."

"Why?"

"Because we need them to kill as many Grimm as they can without worrying about us, and clear us a path to the clearing."

"Okay. So who's gonna worry about us?"

"We are, Ren."

"Thought you might say that. How long until we follow?"

"First to 5?"

"You want to make this into a game?" He asked, incredulous for the first time during our brief back and forth.

"My whole life is a game, why not?"

He shrugged, and charged one of the two Ursa still coming at us. I followed him at a notably slower speed. He leaped into the air as he peppered his foe with bullets. I took a more straightforward approach, meeting the leaping bear in the air with a mighty slash of my sword.

I took the full weight of the creature to the chest, though grinned as I saw it wasn't the full weight - one of its arms had been lopped off. As soon as we landed, I rolled back, noting my HP had gone down. The beast attempted to charge me again but finally realized it was missing a limb and fell. I fired my harpoon, scoring a shot to the mouth as it roared in pain, or anger.

 **Detect Bloodlust** **has gained a level!**

Probably anger. It started dissolving, so I rewound my harpoon just in time to get smashed in the head by a Beowolf. I rolled back to my feet, briefly wondering if I could get a skill to stop me from getting knocked over, and hit the wolf with an upwards cut that sheared through half of it's skull.

"That's five, let's go." True to his word, Lie Ren stood among five decaying black corpses.

"Damnit, I only got two." I replied as I set off running. Ren kept up with me, though I could tell he wasn't running his fastest. To be fair, neither was I. we wouldn't be able to outrun the Beowolves, so we just had to keep moving at a speed we could comfortably fight from. For me, that was a slow walk, so it was a bit difficult, but at this point it was do-or-die.

A quick check showed that I had fully regained my pitiful AP from the tree incident, while my HP sat at 98. That would have to last me until I could sleep again, but considering this was a 24-hour test, I had no idea when that would be. We just ran, following the path of destruction left by the explosive hammer. I still wanted one of those, just maybe not in pink.

Ren shot over his shoulder, keeping the monsters at bay, while I focused on the trail in front of me. I didn't get tired anymore, not in the traditional sense, so fatigue wouldn't hinder me. My issue was obstacles. Ren still looked as calm and serene as ever, but I could tell he was following me by sound or something. He wasn't even looking forward, but was matching me step for step. Could he be sensing Aura, maybe? Who knows.

A loud trumpeting sound was heard from up ahead, one that shook the bones in my body and the ground below me equally. I stumbled slightly, but quickly regained my footing. That sounded like a mammoth.

This place better not have fucking mammoth Grimm. I was in no shape to fight something of that caliber.

Black feathers pierced through the forest canopy, impaling the ground around us but we still ran on. There was no options other than run. I had no doubts that Phyrra and Nora would be able to defeat the majority of the Grimm but with that wanna-be dragon flying around shooting feathers, it would be too dangerous to do without one of us ending up dead. I ducked under another branch to find myself in a large clearing, where a horde of Grimm were crowded near the opposite edge. Pink explosions came from the center as the lifeless bodies of the beasts flew off in erratic directions. Nora was keeping busy, it seemed.

With a screech, the Giant Nevermore flew over top of the clearing, giving me a chance to Observe it.

 **Giant Nevermore**

 **LVL. 42**

 **HP 4200/4200**

 **MP 2000/2100**

I was surprised at being able to see its HP, but even more surprised at the sheer amount of health that it possessed. Through quick calculations I found myself only able to deal 36 damage maximum, that would take over 100 strikes before my opponent would be dead. I couldn't kill it, not easily. I needed something more.

Then a crash and the sound of splintering wood as a gigantic mammoth crashed through the border of the clearing. I observed that as well.

 **Baby Goliath**

 **LVL. ?**

 **HP?/?**

 **MP?/?**

"Divines…" I muttered, in awe of this things supposed power. The only other being that I've seen that powerful was Ozpin, and I don't even know if the two can compare. I started running towards the rapidly thinning group of Grimm, but so too was the Goliath. Ren was still behind me, covering my back as I pushed every ounce of speed I could out of my legs.

In the distance I saw the Nevermore wheel around, coming straight for Phyrra and Nora. I grit my teeth, our only shot at living was to run, and we couldn't outrun that bird, it was much too fast. We could probably keep ahead of the Goliath, but we would still have to fight off the Beowolves in our retreat, and they would not stop pursuing us.

I was out of ideas. "Ren, we need a plan!" I shouted over my shoulder.

"Can you distract the bird?" He said, still calm.

"If I can get to it, yes!" I had barely finished speaking when I was grabbed from the back and thrown through the air towards our team-mates. Nora saw me, jumped up, and grabbed my arm. With a mid-air spin she altered my course, and I had barely enough time to align myself before firing off the harpoon. The weapon sank into the Nevermore's chest as its HP fell a pitiful amount, but I was connected. The momentum launched me around and I slammed into the Nevermore's back. I quickly grabbed some of the feathers and tried to ignore the fact that I was now riding a hostile creature. Similar principles to dragon riding applied, though there were no spines to hold onto and no common ground to bond over.

I detached my harpoon from the front of the beast and launched it into it's back, anchoring myself in case it attempted to flip me off. With the harpoon attached, I stabbed the sword into it's back repeatedly. That got its attention. It rolled in the air, yet my weapon held and I was held upside down briefly before again landing on the Nevermore.

 **Due to previous experience, you have obtained the skill "Beast Riding"!**

 **Beast Riding (LVL. 8)**

 **You dominate a creature of nature to become your mount, allowing you to traverse the world faster and further than on foot.**

 **50% chance to dominate mount completely, -2% for every level above you, +5% for every level in the skill**

 **+5% defense to mount (per level)**

 **+15% attack to rider (per level)**

 **Current Domination Time: 2 Minutes**

With a grin I activated the skill. With this, every strike I did would cause 80 damage, cutting the time I would need to attack in half. If I was lucky, I'd be able to dominate this over-sized bird as if I'd used the evil Bend Will shout, one that I'd never gotten used to. Quickly calculating, I realized that I had a pitiful 18% chance of pulling off the domination, but I watched my foe's hp count as I stabbed once more, confirming that the attack bonus didn't require full domination, just for me to be riding. As I continued stabbing the creature amidst its attempts to throw me off, I glanced downwards.

The mammoth was wreaking havoc on any plans that Ren had come up with. He was mostly focused on keeping the smaller Grimm at bay while Phyrra distracted the Goliath and Nora hit it with all she had. They weren't making a scratch even with all of their combined efforts. I was wrenched violently back to my own battle as the bird barrel rolled in mid air, trying and failing to shake me off.

Suddenly a pink blur shot past me into the sky, and the bird tumbled backwards. I saw a part of it's beak had been chipped off, and its HP fell dramatically.

 **Giant Nevermore**

 **LVL. 42**

 **HP 2640/4200**

 **AP 1940/2100**

Nora let out a giggle as she reached the apex of her… jump, I think? She began to fall back to earth, staring at me, and with a grin I detached my harpoon.

What was that old saying? The nail that sticks out….

I lunged up the monsters back, right as it tucked its wings in to dive. I found myself flying through the air as the mass of black fell beneath me. I lined up the shot as best I could, and fired my harpoon.

 _Thunk_

It suck in, slightly off center but still in the neck where I wanted it to be. Nora came down like a boulder dropped from the heavens and spinning like a pinwheel. With both apprehension and fear being suppressed by my Gamer's Mind, I hit the toggle to retract the harpoon, and let go of my sword.

I fell, and as I fell, I watched. Nora nailed my sword right on the hilt as it sunk into the Nevermore, propelling it _through_ the neck as an explosion ripped half of the flesh off from the inside. It would have been gruesome, had not the gore been purest of black. As it was it was a small symbol of hope.

As I felt that hope flutter to existence in my heart, it was soon also suppressed by my Gamer's Mind. Instead, I was forced to live with the fact that I was falling at an ever-increasing speed. Afterwards, some will tell you that I screamed. Another would tell you that she just _knew_. I'm going with my own story. I simply called for help.

"PHYRRAA!"

I may have called slightly loudly and in a high pitched voice, but that is no fault of mine. That's the fault of the puberty ridden body I was given. She heard me, somehow, over the sounds of growling and snarling from the throng around her, over the foreboding trumpeting of the Goliath. Over the rush of blood in her ears and the panting of breath in her throat, she heard me, and she threw out a hand towards my sword.

My weapon reversed direction mid-air and came speeding back at me, covered in smoking black gore. I grabbed it, and just managed to deploy the harpoon again and swing off of a tree before crashing. I retracted the harpoon, soard from the tree towards the clearing, and landed with a tumble that looked like it would go a lot smoother in my head.

I got to my feet, checking on my HP and AP. I had literally 1 AP left, which in hindsight shouldn't have been possible. I had been using abilities like they were nobodies business. With a crash that rumbled through the ground and the loud splintering of trees, the Nevermore fell to the earth. I was suddenly assaulted by blue boxes.

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have passed level 10, unlocking your Semblance!**

 **Semblance: Dragon Tongue (PERMANENT)**

 **You have the soul of a dragon, and the body of a man. The power of the Thu'um is available for you to use, a mighty and awesome power, but one that is restricted. For every level, you now gain 5 status points and 1 shout point. Shout points can be used to unlock a single word of a shout.**

 **You have gained the title "Dragonborn"!**

 **Title: Dragonborn**

 **You have the soul of a dragon, and the body of a man. Through training, you have learned to use the power of the Thu'um like none else can, save for the mightiest and most ancient of the dragons.**

 **+50% intensity to shouts**

 **-20s recharge time**

With a few swipes and taps, I dismissed all the menus and equipped my new title with a huge smile. As I equipped it, a rush came over me, a rush of strength and power and… knowledge. I felt much better about our situation, in fact. "Status."

 **Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **LVL: 15**

 **Race: Human**

 **Title: Dragonborn**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: 16%**

 **HP: 405**

 **AP: 397**

 **STR: 7 (34)**

 **VIT: 6 (29)**

 **AGI: 8 (39)**

 **INT: 9**

 **WIS: 12**

 **LUK: 4**

 **STAT: 45**

 **SP: 5**

I immediately tapped the shout points and a menu popped up, listing all of my shouts I had known in Skyrim, ones that I still knew but had been cut off from. I placed the points in a hurry, closing the menu, then dismissing my status menu. I now had the full capabilities of aura, I would need to test it before I determined where to place all of those points I noted that I had gotten a couple points in luck already, but I'm not complaining.

I took off at a sprint, and couldn't help but let out a whoop as I took off. The world was speeding right past me! I felt like I was running as fast as a horse, and that was _in armour_.

These Grimm had nothing that they could do to stop me, and with my AP so high, I felt like being a little bit reckless. So, the first Grimm I came across, which happened to be an Ursa, got its head cut clean off by a Power Strike. I felt little to no resistance, and a grin spread across my face. If I ever had any doubt about this Gamer ability, it was now gone. I felt stronger, faster, altogether better. This power was like nothing I had ever felt in my life, if aura granted abilities like these to everyone who chose to unlock it, why, just 100 Hunters could likely conquer the entire Empire on their own!

With my small yet powerful arsenal of Shouts, I was free to assist in a way I never could have before.

" _WULD!"_

I found myself in the melee fighting alongside Phyrra and Ren. For every Grimm we killed, more rose to take their place. With the Goliath stomping around and waving its massive tusks, it would not be an easy escape.

"Where's Nora?" I yelled, swinging my sword to parry a claw attack from Beowolf before cutting both of its forelimbs right off.

Phyrra cartwheeled over me to block another attack as I fired my harpoon into a boarbatusk that was charging. "Clearing a path out of here, we're going to make for the cliff and hope Glynda can take care of this thing!"

"What about the city? We can't bring this horde to the gates." Ren added as he peppered the horde in question with bullets from his guns.

I knew he was right, but our lives were more important in my eyes. If a trained Huntress couldn't take care of this group, then they had no business sending us here in the first place and we couldn't be blamed. If she could, we would look pretty bad but I would still rather look bad and live then go out heroically for no cause other than proving myself. Yes, I do have my honour, but I also have a survival instinct. The same one that lead to the eradication of the werewolves in Whiterun was now telling me to get us to the cliff as fast as I could. "Which direction is Nora?"

I didn't have to ask, as with more terrible cracks and splintering I saw a tree go down in a pink explosion. "There she is." Ren said. "We can't follow until these Grimm are dealt with though!"

Phyrra fought with renewed vigor, dodging and parrying as if it was in her blood. I take back what I said about Delphine, Phyrra was easily the most skilled combatant I had ever seen. The way she moved with a liquid grace, every step with purpose and every movement setting herself up for a block or strike or in some cases both, subtle usage of her Semblance to pull off feats I hadn't thought possible. She was a goddess of battle among creatures of slaughter, except in this case they were the sheep and she was the butcher. An especially deadly butcher.

"Go!" I shouted at them. "I'll distract them, then catch up!"

"You're the slowest one of us, Torga. I'll have the best odds." Phyrra replied as if she wasn't in the middle of a fight. Rather than explain, I simply opened my arms wide to prevent self-damage, and unleashed the dragon power in the most basic yet potent way possible.

" _YOL!"_

A burst of dragonfire exploded from my mouth, instantly killing the ones closer to us and setting the ones after ablaze. I coughed, the fire scratched this throat that was unaccustomed to the Voice. "I've got this, now stop arguing and go! The longer we wait, the more Grimm arrive!"

"Torga, we are not leavin- Ren!" Phyrra called out but it was too late. The green-clad, strangely effeminate boy was struck from the back by a huge tusk, sending him into the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing from Nora's path of destruction.

"Go get him, _now!_ " I yelled at her, and with a pained look on her face, she sprinted away.

I turned to the Goliath as I felt whole once more. The charging of the Thu'um is a strange feeling indeed. As I use my shouts I feel… empty, but that word does not do it justice. I feel like I had lost everything I loved and cared for, everything I had done in my life and all of the ambitions I had for the future. Using the power of the Voice used my soul as its fuel, and though it did come back, the first few times I attempted it were catastrophic. Since then, I had gotten used to it. I knew that every time I cast out my soul in a physical form, it would again return to me regardless of what happened.

I darted backwards a few steps, lowered myself and planted my feet, and unleashed my fury.

" _FUS RO DAH!"_

Even I was not prepared for the explosion of unrelenting force that poured out of me. Grimm flew, literally _flew_ away from me, and as the shout hit the Goliath, it was briefly raised off the ground. For a brief second I could have sworn I saw it look surprised, but then it toppled onto its side with a mighty crash as other Grimm slammed into it. Phyrra emerged from the trees with Ren across her shoulders, and her weapon in rifle form in her hands. Lie Ren didn't look too good, he was bleeding which was a sure sign of his aura being depleted. He was in good hands, as Phyrra picked off any enemies in her path with the rifle, leaving nothing behind her but decaying corpses with neat little holes drilled into their eyes and necks. I raced off after her, slicing Grimm left and right as I went.

We soon caught up to Nora who was literally playing with a boarbatusk. The creature had formed itself into a ball and she was bouncing it up and down with her hammer. I grabbed it out of the air and shoved it into my inventory, breathing a sigh of relief as it slid through the plane of light and appeared in one of the small boxes. I was fairly certain nobody saw it, though if anyone did it would have been Phyrra and she knew about my powers anyways. Nora was too busy making sure Ren was okay and Phyrra had her rifle up and ready scanning the area so I figured we'd be okay.

"Torga, light the woods behind us. Get as much of the path as you can, the lesser Grimm can't stand fire. We should be able to keep in front of them long enough to reach the cliff." Phyrra told me. I waited 3 seconds, felt myself whole once more, and unleashed the fire of demons upon the poor trees.

Pitiful shrubs never stood a chance.

* * *

 **...sup.**

 **I've been busy. Also procrastinating, that fight scene was difficult to write. But mostly busy. I go to school to make video games so I kind of got pre-occupied.**

 **Anyways, here, have a chapter.**

 **~HHR**


	9. Chapter 8: Team Day

"It's right here, Sir." I pulled the boarbatusk out from behind my back and threw it into the corner of Ozpin's office. I wasn't expecting it to stay all balled up, but it did, and continued rolling until it impacted the window with a heavy-sounding _thunk_. "One captured Grimm, as requested."

Glynda huffed and waved her riding crop, sealing the crack that had formed. The Grimm was also immobilized by a cage of stone that rose from the floor.

"Remarkable. I saw everything that happened down there, you were in no state to take on a Goliath, even a baby, and live."

"That was a baby?!" Nora exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Aww!"

"I would hate to see its mother, then." Ren added, to which the grey-haired professor smirked and took a drink from his mug.

"As it is, you have fulfilled the expectations placed upon you and passed the Initiation Exam. Congratulations are in order. You've missed the ceremony, but we will work out a way to recognize your acceptance into Beacon. I must again commend you all on a job well done. Ms. Valkyrie, your power is a blessing, I look forward to seeing you in action in the future. Mr. Ren, Your skill with aura is something many professional hunters would be incredibly jealous of. Ms. Nikos, you have not ceased to surprise me since the day I first met you."

The others of the team nodded and said various thanks. "I would like to speak with Mr. Arc alone, if you please?" Phyrra was the first to turn and go. Ren turned back before the elevator doors closed. "Training field 3." He mouthed with a grin, to which I nodded.

"Mr. Arc, I-" Ozpin began.

"Torga. You can pretend to call me whomever you wish while we're in public, but behind closed doors I will keep my past, thank you." He looked like he expected what I had said.

"Very well Torga, I assume you know what I'm going to talk to you about."

I nodded. "I gave it a lot of thought last night." That was a lie, I had gone to sleep after making sure the rest of the team was out. What, it was a tough day, wouldn't want any late-night moping alone in a scenic area as young 'heroes' are so fond of.

"I nominate Lie Ren for team leader." I said firmly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

I nodded and steeled my gaze. "Nora has the power to inspire but is too… volatile to bring a team together. Nikos…" Her reputation score was steadily improving but at a very slow rate. We still haven't spoken properly. "An incredible fighter and decent tactician, but she seems to be more of a follower. Maybe in a more military-like setting she would have been a right fit, or maybe with a different team, but as it stands with the people we have, she would be better as one of our heavy-hitters. Ren has a semblance that is perfectly oriented towards battlefield control, he keeps a level head, and has unparalleled situational awareness along with the intellect to create snap-strategies."

"And yourself?"

"He woul- wait, what?" I was ready to keep rationalizing Ren.

"How would you compare with your team in terms of leadership ability?"

"No thank you." I replied, curtly. "Leadership is not for me, not again."

"Again, you say?" He raised an eyebrow even higher.

"I've been there once. Finding a group you can trust with your life is nearly impossible, and having them work together as a team is another impossibility on top of that. I've led squads of soldiers before and had them die, I've led a band of mercenaries and had them kill, and I've led a resistance against oppression where the cost of freedom was the lives of nearly everyone that fought for it. I would very much prefer to _not_ be the leader of this team, _Mr. Ozpin._ " I said his name coldly. With my power back, I felt much stronger, and as a result more sure of myself.

He finally lowered his eyebrow. "Very well, Mr. Arc. I assure you that I will do what is best for the team."

I sighed in relief. I did not want to have any of that bullshit on my shoulders. I'd much rather just have it be 'Torga, smash this!' or 'Torga, kill that!'.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Now, go train with your team. Your classes won't start until the day after tomorrow, now might be a good time to work on combination strategies."

I stood and left as soon as I could. Something about Ozpin's office just makes you feel small, like you're the most chaotic being in a world full of order that's just waiting to suck you in.

* * *

"Before you say anything, I had Jakkin ready to help them out at a moments notice, and if it had gotten out of hand, I would have stepped in myself."

"That wasn't what I'm worried about, Ozpin. Why do I get the feeling that we've just seen not one, but two reincarnations of familiar teams this year?"

"STRQ and MRAJ, correct?"

"Professor Ozpin, you _remember_ what those two did to our school, don't you?"

He nodded, taking a sip from his coffee which had long since gone cold. "I remember Glynda. Remember who stopped it from breaking out of the school."

"I'll continue to trust your judgement then."

"That would be wise."

* * *

More wooden poles. Apparently we needed to simulate avoidance of environmental hazards, I just think that Ren wanted a way to practice his acrobatic skills. I didn't mind, so focused was I on the impending spar.

I could feel it already, and I haven't even decided where I was going to place all my new skill points. This aura was _incredible_ , the brief taste I'd gotten before losing my title was like a drop of water to a man in a desert, and I had just received a lake.

With my shouts back, even in limited capacity, I felt strong. Very strong. That's why we had once again lined up to go against Phyrra. I was bouncing on my toes, excited to use this power against her. I had some payback to give, and once I'd defeated her I would be able to work out this issue she has with me. If she's an invincible girl, I'll just have to strike with an unstoppable force.

Or an _Unrelenting_ one. I chuckled to myself.

Ren looked at me strangely then sighed. "Alright, let's do this. Nora, hammer. Torga, distract her."

"Ren, I'm much stronger then last time."

"You unlocked your semblance, that's true, but you can't have made such a leap in power since-"

I was gone, sprinting at Phyrra with all the speed I could muster. I drew my sword mid charge, and fired the harpoon at a wooden pole behind Phyrra and yanked to launch myself forwards. With the effects of Aura, I was easily airborne. I came down with an overhead slash, but she smoothly parried it out of the way with her shield, responding with a kick to my leg. It impacted, and I managed to dodge out of the way of a quick elbow to the face and counter with a horizontal swipe. This one she rolled under, springing up as her sword changed to a javelin and stabbed at my face. I ducked under, and a golden boot planted itself right into my nose, sending me back into a pole.

Phyrra pressed that advantage, bashing her shield forwards and knocking me on my ass as I attempted to rise. I rolled back with the momentum, something I would have been unable to do in my old armour, and rose in time to see Phyrra bend backwards under a hammer strike and kick the head of the weapon skywards. With a twist, she had come back to her feet and swept Nora's legs out from under her with her javelin.

" _FUS!"_ I shouted, pushing Phyrra back. I refrained from using the full version of the shout, seeming as it toppled what was essentially a mammoth. Phyrra was sent airborne regardless, though she managed to do the impossible and flip in the air to land on her feet and come charging right back at me.

Nora came down from above with an attempted hammer smash, though the green-eyed warrior jumped through the air, allowing Nora's explosion to propel her even faster towards me. I dropped to a knee, narrowly avoiding a slash as I counter-attacked. A flurry of blows passed between us, keeping her distracted long enough for Ren to hit her in the head with a double-legged donkey kick, using his momentum to flip back to his feet by my left side. Nora came back, standing on my right, and I set my sword towards Phyrra with a huge grin on my face.

"We did it." I said, planting the tip of my sword in the ground and using it to keep my balance as I caught my breath. "We hit her."

"Actually, Torga, only Ren managed to hit me. You and Nora still have yet to land a blow."

I put my sword away and shook my head. "As a team, _we_ hit you. None of us could have done what we had without the support from the others, even if just as a distraction. I think we should work as a four-person team now, get used to fighting with each other as allies, not as enemies."

"Fight against what?" Ren voiced in concern. "Sparring is the best way to train and we can't do that if all of us are on the same team."

"If this is any sort of combat school," I countered, "we'll be doing all the sparring we can handle during our instructional time. For now, I think I have a better idea on how to use our time…"

* * *

I sat off to the side, allowing my team-mates to practice their team-moves. I had already gone over my own move with Nora, my move with Ren, and my move with Phyrra. Right now I was 'coming up with an idea for a four-person move', as far as my team was concerned. Ren was over beside me, leaning on a tree and watching the females of our team practice their move, a nasty, magnetically launched hammer drop.

Ren himself was the image of calm. He analyzed the two, while his breath was steady and his eyes full of focus. I, on the other hand, was scrolling through menus. With a sigh, I wondered how I was going to place my points.

The immediate thought was to place all of my points into strength, and hit like a mountain every time I swung my I thought to put every point into agility, become the fastest I could be, but that really wasn't my style of fighting. Intelligence seemed like a good idea, as it would increase my AP and allow me to use power attack more often, but then again wisdom would also help with that. I briefly entertained the thought of placing all of my points into Wisdom to see if I couldn't regenerate AP faster than I could spend it using power attacks, but that would be foolish of me. Or… would it?

My WIS sat at a comfortable 12. INT was at 9. If I raise Intelligence, the resulting AP would help buff my other physical stats due to aura. If I ever ran out of aura, I would be screwed, but for right now I could ignore the physical stats. Something from the 'tutorial' stood out in my mind though:

 **WIS:** **A numeric representation of your Wisdom. This number dictates the rate at which you use AP, as well as how fast your AP regenerates. Wisdom also gives a small boost to experience points and the rate at which skills level up. In the physical world, wisdom will help you come up with plans and strategies in order to use what you know to maximum effect.**

In theory, Giving myself more wisdom would help me determine what the best course of action would be going forwards with my levels. Hell, if I dumped all of my points into WIS, I wouldn't have to spend another point on Wisdom again until much later, and that could prove useful!

"Status"

 **Name: Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **Level: 15**

 **Race: Human**

 **Title: Dragonborn**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: 15.2%**

 **HP: 405**

 **AP: 397**

 **STR: 7**

 **VIT: 6**

 **AGI: 8**

 **INT: 9**

 **WIS: 12**

 **LUK: 4**

 **STAT: 45**

' _Hm…'_ I thought to myself, going over the numbers in my head. With a sigh, and knowing that I would never truly decide what I wanted, I began pushing buttons. When I finished, my status page looked a lot neater in my opinion

 **Name: Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **Level: 15**

 **Race: Human**

 **Title: Dragonborn**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: 15.2%**

 **HP: 405**

 **AP: 400**

 **STR: 7**

 **VIT: 6**

 **AGI: 8**

 **INT: 10**

 **WIS: 50**

 **LUK: 10**

As soon as I finished and hit the ' **Accept** ' Button, a wave of understanding washed over me, as I realized that I most definitely should not have done what I did. I had yet to explore the possibility of raising all my stats to their limit using non-point methods and to not utilize such a blatant loophole was idiotic of me. I felt assured that I would not make such a stupid mistake in the future, provided I was able to get to the future.

I also realized that changing any of my physical stats too drastically after the unlocking of my semblance would lead to raised eyebrows and whispered questions. I personally would rather avoid attention, but given my status as the Dragonborn, attention would find me no matter what I did.

Lastly, I realized that I had missed out on quite a few things, but was interrupted from that thought by 3 blue boxes appearing before me.

 **Due to raising your WIS to 50, you have obtained the skill [Aura Affinity]!**

 **Due to raising your WIS to 50, you have obtained the skill [Meditate]!**

 **Due to spending over 40 STAT in one minute, you have obtained the perk [Big Spender!]!**

I cleared the screens then opened my skills menu and tapped on each of my new ones.

 **[Aura Affinity] (Level: Minor)**

 **You are in tune with your own aura. All ability costs are lowered by 25%. Aura regenerates 1.5x faster.**

 **[Meditate] (Level: 1)**

 **Remove yourself from the world around you and embrace nothingness.**

 **+1AP/Second**

 **If AP is full, +1HP/Second**

 **Gives 'Immobile' Status during usage.**

Holy shit.

This is too much. It's only going to take me 20 minutes to regenerate _all_ of my AP, and that's if I'm _not_ meditating. If I am meditating… I did some quick math in my head. It should take me roughly 5 minutes. I let a feral grin cross my face. Apparently WIS was the perfect choice for me to get for training. With these new skills, I can train myself all night without the need for sleep or the regeneration bonus! On top of that, I can now Grapple without worry, Power Strike to my heart's content, I can do any of my skills easily!

I need more skills. Oh, do I ever need more skills.

I tapped on the perk page, which was completely new to me.

 **[Congrats! Perks are permanent boosts that cannot be dispelled, forgotten, improved upon, or replaced without very specific circumstances such as an Amnesia Stone or similar item.]**

 **[Big Spender!]**

 **You spend all you've got to make even more! Money drops from enemies are more likely and greater in quantity. Some social effects as news of your spending habits gets around.**

 **All unique store items are double the price. (Does not apply to Dust, medical supplies, or most food items.)**

That.. that's good, I think. I get more money from enemies and I- _Wait._

"Inventory." I muttered, still attempting to hide my doings from Ren. He seemed just as focused on the girls as ever but it couldn't hurt to check. I glanced at my total and my eyes bulged.

Apparently that Nevermore was worth quite a lot, judging from the hefty boost to my money.

 **Lien: 140,465**

I'm not sure exactly how that compares to gold coins, but it certainly seemed like a lot of money. Maybe I could finally buy some better armor than this basic crap I'm using now. I've grown to like my weapon, it will do for the first few weeks of this combat school but I realize I may need to get a new one, one that's more powerful than I've got. Though, with enough boosts to my skills, I should be able to do the damage I need to do without any problems.

I continued browsing my inventory, mildly surprised at the things I found in it.

 **Boarbatusk Tusk** **(x6)**

 **Crafting Item, Uncommon**

 **A tusk off of a Boarbatusk. Used in clothing, armor, and weapon crafting.**

 **Beowolf Fang** **(x16)**

 **Crafting Item, Uncommon**

 **A fang from the mouth of a Beowolf. Used in clothing, armor, and weapon crafting.**

 **Giant Nevermore Feather** **(x50)**

 **Crafting Item, Rare**

 **Feathers plucked from a Giant Nevermore. Used in clothing and armor crafting.**

The items that really got me interested, though…

 **Mesynnefa**

 **Clothing Item (Torso), Rare**

 **A shirt made of the feathers of a Giant Nevermore. Grants status effect "The Early Bird". Grants status effect "Bird of Prey". Grants Status Effect "Feathers Grimm".**

 **+10 Elemental Affinity (Air)**

 **+50% Movement Speed**

 **+50% Attack Speed**

 **+200% Visual Skill Effectiveness**

 **Kathamati**

 **Clothing Item (Eyes), Ultra-Rare**

 **A set of goggles that allow the user to see through illusions and walls up to 1m thick. Grants status effect "You Can Run…".**

 **+10 Elemental Affinity (Air)**

 **+100% Vision Range**

 **+100% Visual Skill Effectiveness**

 **Skill Book: Air Slash**

I left the items alone for now, I would try them on later when I'm alone so as to prevent anything weird from happening. That was quite a lot of status effects for that shirt, and I had a sinking feeling that they couldn't be all benevolent, especially not coming from something like the Grimm. That would be like trusting a Daedric Artifact. Sure it might help, but when the prince comes along and asks for his/her due, you _will_ regret accepting whatever it is you were given.

The skill book was something completely different. I pulled it out of my inventory to see a black book, which I opened to find an illegible scrawl I had no idea about.

Luckily, my "Gamer powers" seemed to be all over it.

 **You have obtained the Skill Book "Air Slash"! Would you like to read it?**

 **[YES] [NO]**

I shrugged, tapping the **[YES]** option.

 **ERROR!**

 **You have insufficient AGI!**

 **You have insufficient INT!**

 **You have an insufficient level in the skill "Elemental Affinity (Air)"!**

 **You cannot learn this skill!**

 **Requirements:**

 **15 AGI**

 **20 INT**

 **Elemental Affinity (Air) Level 5**

"Well shit…" I mumbled as I stuffed it back into my inventory. Seems I had a new goal to strive for. With all of my newfound WIS, I realized that I had been a complete and utter idiot by spending all my points on WIS, especially when I could have earned those points by literally just thinking. If I trained up my AGI by running and doing agile things, then INT can be increased by… what, learning things? I am at school, so it shouldn't be too difficult to learn.

It was impossible to start planning my days of levelling up until I knew what my schedule was like. Right now, the only thing I knew was that my first class was in the cafeteria and I need to be there by 8 AM tomorrow, which I was told was about an hour after sunrise. My scroll had a clock feature for telling time, but it was stupid and cumbersome to use.

 **New Message from BeaconDeputyHeadmaster! Would you like to read?**

I tapped yes, curious about this message.

 **[message]**

" _Dear Student,_

 _Congratulations are in order for passing your second examination. Please report to Room 1001 at 7:45 PM to receive team details and your admission package._

 _Tardiness will not be accepted._

 _Thank you for your time,_

 _Glynda Goodwitch_

 _Deputy Headmistress of Beacon Academy_

 _Scroll Code: BeaconDeputyHeadmaster"_

 **[/message]**

Ren looked over his shoulder. "Torga, it's about 6 right now. If we cut out training, we can probably get showered before this. I'd like to wash the grime off, personally."

"I didn't notice any bathing chambers when I entered our room." I told him. "I'm assuming it's communal?"

"No, there's a shower in our bathroom, but if you prefer bathing… I think there's a pond not too far from here? Don't know if you'll make it there and back before 7:45."

"What's a shower?" I asked, and Ren slapped his palm to his face in exasperation.

""C'mon."

* * *

Running water.

If there was absolutely anything at all I wanted to bring back to Skyrim, it would be that. Heated, running water. I have never felt so clean and relaxed, ever. Seriously, this was a blessing from the Divines. I cannot comprehend how nobody had thought of this before. Such a simple thing, and yet… so _immense._

I learned that when a female "showers", they're expected to take at least 30 minutes. How it could possibly take that long, I do not know.

In the time we were out training, someone had come and placed the uniforms on our beds. We made the collective decision to wear them as a team, make it appear like we belonged here like the rest of them. I was in the middle of trying to fasten the idiotic cloth necklace we had to wear when I heard a knock at the door.

Phyrra thankfully opened it as I tried not to strangle myself.

 **Ruby Rose**

 **Beacon Of Light**

 **LVL 47**

My eyes popped as she came in. She must have thought I was strangling myself with the cloth, because in an instant she sped over and in a few motions I couldn't discern, untied and retied it pristinely. I let out a deep breath and my thanks, tugging at the sleeves of the odd jacket I was given. The colours were nice, and the form of the garment was… sharp. That was the only word I could use to describe it. Still, having been wearing roughspun and armor for most of my life, the materials were comfortable on my body. I could tell that the collar was a little stiff, but I would have to deal with that in my own way. Namely, finding a clothing shop to get it modified in.

Regardless, I coughed out my thanks, trying to ignore the insane level that this little girl was at. If the scaling was simple, she was about 4 times more powerful than I was.

"You're welcome! How'd it go?" She said with a smile as she hopped onto my bed.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we passed Ozpin's test." I replied. "Our only objective was completed, we did it in good time, and nobody was terribly injured. I consider this quest a success."

"It was more than a success! Torga unlocked his semblance and whooie! It's a doozy!" Nora sang from her bed with a pointed finger.

Ruby's eyes snapped to me with excitement before back Nora, confused. "Torga?"

I sighed. "Nickname."

"Okaaay… So what is it?" She got over the name pretty quick, I was glad to see.

"I'm a dragon in a human's body. I can breathe fire, among other things." I oversimplified it, something told me that telling anyone I can absorb souls when literally everything in this school is about harnessing the power of said souls would be a bad idea.

Her eyes widened. "So cool! Can I see?"

I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Not now, Little Red, I wouldn't want to set our room ablaze. You'll see it if we do sparring in classes, trust me." She scrunched her face up at the nickname before literally waving it off.

"So, Who's the leader?"

"Actually Ruby, we need to go find that out right now. I will call you after our intro, okay?" Pyrrha told her.

"Alright but don't miss the assembly at 8, I heard they're doing something special this year."

I shared a glance with Ren. We weren't told about anything different happening. Pyrrha reassured her we'd be present, then we set off for Room 1001.

Luckily Pyrrha led the way as I still had no idea how to get around this castle. She eventually opened a wooden door to find a small sitting room with a couple of couches, a small table, and a bland speaker's podium. The contents of the room were not so interesting as the people inside. I recognized Professor Goodrich but the other two were unknown to me for a couple brief seconds.

 **Deanna Goldstien**

 **LVL. 12**

 **Investigative Reporter**

 **Allan Allanson**

 **LVL. 11**

 **Technical Director**

With a glance at the clock mounted on the wall, Goodwitch nodded. "Good, I didn't have to discipline you four."

I looked to my team-mates, seeing if anyone was going to reply to that. They didn't appear to be doing anything so I opened my mouth to answer.

"Sit." Her voice turned icy cold and she gave me a glare that promised retribution if I drew her ire. I decided to place myself on one of those suddenly comforting looking couches. Ren sat down beside me, while the girls sat on the couch across. Glynda stood in front of the podium with the duo behind them.

"Headmaster Ozpin has admitted your team into Beacon Academy."

"We know." I replied. Glynda's eye twitched, and I saw the corner of the investigators mouth rise upwards into a smirk.

"No more interruptions." The Deputy Headmistress curtly stated. "Due to the irregular nature of your graduation and growing pressure from the Board of Directors to increase revenue, Your team will be the first televised example of Hunter and Huntress training."

Nora's eyes lit up and with a deep breath she screeched. "We're going to be on TV?!"

"What did I just say about interruptions?" Goodwitch said with a stern glance at Nora, whose hand immediately clapped over her own mouth. "Good. As I was saying, you're going to be filmed for the majority of your training, testing, any off-campus excursions, and will need to sacrifice some of your down time for… ugh, Deanna can explain all this."

"Hello team!" Deanna made her way to the front. She was a blonde woman, with wide hips and narrow shoulders. Her hair fell in a wavy frame around her rounded face. She was a plump woman, by Cyrodiil standards, but by the Nordic standards she was just the right size. She wore a emerald green shirt over a black skirt and spectacles enhanced her icy blue eyes.

"Hello!" Phyra replied with a wave.

"Alright, my name, as the good Professor has said, is Deanna Goldstien. I was a reporter with VNN, but the network is starting up a new show that they want me to host, so here I am. We still need a name so get thinking soon guys, but I'll be attached to you four until either the show is cancelled, you graduate or… Well, either me or Allan dies." She shrugged. "Odds are low of any of those. Projections show that this series will have the highest amount of views since Hunters and Huntresses."

"The soap opera?" Ren quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes, but we're hoping to do something a little different. Our plan is a reality show, where we follow you and the rest of your team in your quest to become great! If all goes well and you four are cool with it, we also have permits from the Kingdom to follow you on post graduation adventures. I hope you four are prepared to become the most loved team that has ever graced the air!" She paused, having thrown her arms wide to accentuate that last point. "In case any of you are uncomfortable being filmed, Ozpin has given us his express assurance that this is the fault of one…" She looked over at Allan who until this point had been standing silently.

"Jaune Arc, that kid." He said in a gruff voice, pointing at me.

"Right! And in the case of you, Ms. Nikos, We've already consulted your agent and he gives a glowing thumbs-up of approval. Any questions?

"Will you be filming in our room?" Len asked immediately.

Deanna grinned. "Not the room you have now. Construction has begun so that by second year, you'll have a room with a built-in mini-studio for video diaries. For now we'll be using empty classrooms."

"Will we have final say over what does and doesn't get released?" Pyrrha asked.

"Ozpin has the ultimate discretion, but anything we're going to air, we're showing you as a team first, with the exception of the pilot episode, as that's already been completed and approved for airing."

I looked over and saw Nora wearing a wicked grin. "Can we get sponsored?"

Glynda butt in. "No. You'll be advertising nothing but the school and yourselves."

I hesitantly raised a hand.

"Jaune?" Deanna asked, staring me directly in the eyes with an intensity I couldn't describe.

"How will we explain...well...me?"

"Ozpin already made your situation clear. We're calling the personality change a result of both your semblance and a head injury in the forest. You're the main reason the Headmaster was so adamant about himself having final say on the content. You had another question, , though, I can see it."

"Yeah, um, what's a TV?"

* * *

"I'm sure you're all curious as to the purpose of this assembly." Ozpin's voice rang over the crowd. "I am pleased to inform you that our errant first-year team has in fact been admitted to Beacon. I am also pleased to inform you that a partnership has been struck with VNN to produce a reality series about the hardships and camaraderie of Huntsman training. You've been gathered to view the premiere, and cheer on your fellow students. I will remind all students to behave in a manner befitting television when around the camera, as many of your parents will be watching this attentively, and potential employers even more so."

Ozpin smirked and stepped off to the side, pressing a button on a remote and allowing the booming notes of an opening sequence to envelop the audience.

* * *

"So you're telling me that you can record exactly what we say and do, and have other people watch exactly what happened?" I clarified.

"Uhm… yes?" Deanna answered. "The show's already started airing though, and I have a feeling you'll want to see this."

" _-n all new series from VNN. I'm your host, Deanna Goldstien, and welcome to Hunter's Gate! We'll be following a team of novice Huntsman on their path to glory and heroism, and only fate knows what will happen! Now, introducing our lovable heroes:_

 _A video of Pyrrha Nikos appeared, in a handicap match of 4 vs one. She easily held her own as Deanna continued. "The Invincible Girl, Pyrrha Nikos, hails from Mistral, where she's won the Regional tournament multiple times. Pyrrha is a girl with a heart of gold and a fist of steel!"_

 _Ren appeared, in the midst of a fight with a giant two headed snake. "Lie Ren, a mysterious boy with a mysterious past, this ninja-themed hunter is quick, acrobatic, and calm, a true blessing around the dinner table but an invisible terror on the battlefield!" Ren's clip ended off with him impaling the snake through the eye with its own fang._

 _Deanna's eye twinkled as she stood in front of a dark screen. "Our second femme fatale, Ms. Nora Valkyrie is a bubbly, energetic, and outright terrifying huntress in training. The clip speaks for itself. A short clip played of a mass of Grimm being flung bodily from pink explosions, before an equally pink blur sped up into the air. The camera angle changed just in time to see Nora smash a Giant Nevermore's beak off before it cut to black._

" _Now, for the last member of Team Juniper, the man who is also mysterious but not quite as mysterious as his ninja partner, the man with aura for days and a semblance that makes you want to_ _watch_ _, Team Leader Jaune 'Torga' Arc! This knight themed warrior will definitely be one to keep an eye on in the coming episodes._

45 minutes later, I sat gaping at the screen. I was brought out of my funk by Nora tapping my shoulder.

"Um, guys? I think he's broken."

I shook my head. "No, not broken. Just thinking about how much easier my life would have been if I had access to this technology." The idea of sitting on a couch and watching the heroes of old defeat Alduin instead of actually traversing time to see in person baffled me.

"Regardless, we'll be putting out an episode per week until further notice so we need to start collecting footage as soon as possible." Alan spoke up again. I noted he didn't seem the type to say much.

"No reason we can't start the interviews tonight! I want some depth on you guys for the second episode." Deanna said with a her finger idly twirling her hair. "The crowds surely loved you, but right now they just love your image, your potential, the group you represent. Our job is to make the nation fall in love with you as people and hopefully as a whole team, and we won't be able to do that with only action shots. We can use this room if w-"

Pyrrha raised her hand into the air. "Mrs. Goldstein, may we take a moment to congratulate our new leader?"

Deannas face went blank for a brief second before her hand slowly made her way to her forehead and she sighed. "Yea, sorry team, take all the time you need."

An awkward silence hung in the air as I tried my best not to look expectant and failed.

"Well… good work?" Ren offered, making me chuckle.

"Apparently not. I tried to convince Ozpin to make you our leader, but it seems he didn't like my reasoning. Don't know how good of a leader I'll be considering the catastrophe that was our initiation, but I'll try. Just don't go expecting me to do this alone, you'll all have a unique point of view that will help when coming up with strategies and I expect you to share that point of view with me. A man I once met told me that many hands makes for light work."

"Torga, quit it." Nora huffed. "You're talking like you aren't gonna be good enough. The minute you start acting like that is the minute it becomes true. Trust me."

"You can trust all of us to have your back, just like we'll trust you to lead us home safe." Pyrrha rested her hand on my shoulder.

A loud rumbling came from my right, and I glanced over to see Ren looking slightly sheepish. "How about you lead us to the cafeteria to start, and we'll take it a day at a time from there?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Thanks for that unique viewpoint, Ren, incredibly helpful." I jested with a smirk on my lips.

He shrugged. "I try."

Glynda waved her thing and out of the podium came four folders, one floating over to each of us. "These are your admissions packages. Inside you will find your schedule, Student handbook, Kit Requisition Forms, and the information for your" She took a deep breath. "Rockers, the rocket propelled locker so you can store your things literally anywhere. Yes, I do have to say that, and yes, whenever you refer to the Rocket Propelled Lockers, you must call them Rockers."

"I thought we weren't getting sponsored." Pyrrha declared.

"You're not. Ozpin invented the lockers, Ozpin is the headmaster of Beacon and used Beacon resources to complete research and development, then filed the patent under the corporate name for the school to avoid personal attention. So technically, since Ozpin does get final say on what is released, we figured it was too much of a hassle to deal with the potential copyright issues." Deanna explained. "Anyways, go get some chow and some rest team, we can handle the interviews tomorrow after your classes. Actually, that would almost be better, give the viewers a glimpse of how they deal with both deadly combat and social nightmares…" She trailed off as her mind got caught on another idea and she turned aside and started whispering to Alan.

"Have a good night, _students_." Glynda said with praise in her voice.

We chorused back with various replies and made our way out the door which slid shut with a resounding click. The four of us stood in the hallway, processing how different our lives would be from this day forth.

"Lead on, Torga!" Nora exclaimed. "My pancakes await!"

I looked down the hall both ways, seeing them as identical.

I gave a nervous laugh. "So… how about one of those unique viewpoints?"

 ***PING***

 **[Quest Success!]**

 **[Initiation Exam Part 2!]**

 **Ozpin was feeling generous, and gave you another chance to prove that you're worthy of being accepted into Beacon Huntsman Academy. Here you can learn to use your aura and fight the Grimm!**

 **[Main Objective]**

 **Take the Initiation Exam… Again!**

 **[Side Objectives]**

 **Ensure All Team-mates Survive**

 **Pass Ozpin's Leadership Test!**

 **Train Your Ass Off! (All Physical Stats over 15)**

 **Survive the Goliath!**

 **[Rewards] 10,000 XP, 5000 Lien, Title Beacon First-Year, Access to Beacon Classes.**

 **[Side Objective Rewards!] 3000 XP, 3000 Lien, [Perk] "Run and Live!"**

* * *

 **AN: Most authors would apologize for taking so long for another chapter, spouting feelings of guilt and calamity to his or her readers in a hope of forgiveness.**

 **Me? I Ain't Owin' Y'alls Nothin'! I put out chapters when I please.**

 **Yea, my loss of girlfriend, job, place of residence, and guddamn drivers license, also contributed to the delay but I'm not making excuses, I'm over here making solutions.**

 **So... yea. Have a chapter.**

 **~HHR**


	10. Chapter 9: First Week of School!

"You mean to tell me," I said slowly, "that we have to listen to that short, old, fat man every single week for an hour? All he talked about was how his clothes somehow manage to disappear in _every fight_. How is that even possible?"

"Twice a week." Ren said flatly, ignoring my question. "Two hours on Thursdays."

"At least we don't have class too late today, only Maths, lunch, and Phys. Ed. remain until we are free to do as we wish." Pyrrha chimed in.

"Not entirely." Deanna spoke up from her position of trailing us. Alan walked beside her with a camera floating along beside him with a quiet _whirr_. "I still need those interviews while everything is fresh in your minds."

Right, those. We walked along making awkward small talk. I for one could not ignore the feeling of the camera pointed right at my back, though I was told in many more words that I essentially just had to get over it. Didn't mean I had to like it. I did figure something out though, after the first episode of "Hunter's Gate" had aired. Apparently it didn't matter if I was there in person, because I had to mute my reputation notifications for the night. It seemed like every five seconds another person I'd never heard of thought better of me. Unfortunately, it seemed like every ten seconds someone else grew to dislike me.

I had woken up to a notification. Well, two notifications.

 **You have slept in your own bed! Your HP & AP have been restored! You gained the status "Well Rested"!**

 **Due to touching the hearts and minds across the nation, you unlocked the perk "Show Stopper"!**

 **Show Stopper**

 **All Skills and stats +10% intensity while being filmed. People are now 95% certain to believe whatever you say through a camera, based on severity of truth and gullibility.**

Great, even the game is getting into this. I've never had any problem convincing people of things, but I was going to test this perk out at some crucial point once I figured out how they managed to get us out of the camera and into the floating display. They keep saying the word technology but I don't think it means what they think it means. Technology is like the old Dwemer with their automatons of steel and steam, their intricate puzzles and studies of the stars. Not whatever magic they use here.

Maths did not go well _at_ _all._ Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not stupid. I helped my ma run the mill and we did count our gold. She did most of the maths but explained it a little bit to me. I'm sure she was planning for me to take over when she passed from Nirn, and so she taught me to count our coins, ensure we got paid what we were owed, and how to take inventory.

The maths here might as well have been in another language. I sat blankly staring at the teacher, a non-hunter from the civilian college, as he detailed all of the things we should already know and would be spending this week covering. I bitterly resolved to ask one of my team-mates for help. I would have to do it cautiously, Ozpin would likely not be pleased if the entire nation found out he admitted someone that couldn't do math.

 **For your struggles in the intellectual pursuits, take +1 INT!**

I… wow. This is a truly different world. A man could get by on martial prowess alone in Skyrim, here that wasn't an option. I'm sure if I stooped to the ranks of a criminal thug then I would have no problem eking out a living, but I didn't come here to simply live, I came to adventure damnit!

"Mr. Arc!" My head shot up."The answer, if you please?" The balding man in a more elegant version of the uniform gestured towards the board where a series of numbers and letters were strewn about with no discernible clues as to which go where. I glanced around the class awkwardly. "Uhh…"

Pyrrha nudged my foot once, paused, then nudged it twice. I contemplated. Either she just slipped and meant 3, or she was pausing and meant twelve. Or she was signalling it as a trick question. "The answer is… 12."

 **Luck Check!**

 **Rolling…**

 **Luck 10(+4)=14. Passed!**

 **+1 INT!**

"Very good guess, Mr. Arc, but I can tell you didn't do that math required."

My eyebrows shot up. "What, how?"

"You've been looking at this blackboard with nothing but confusion since the class started, zoned out when I asked you the question, and answer very hesitantly as if you knew the answer but weren't sure it was the answer. If I asked you to go up to the board and write out the steps, would you be able to do it?"

I almost said yes. It would have been embarrassing but I would have just because I don't like to admit that I can't do something. "No, Professor."

"I know. Why Ozpin would let in a dunce like you, I'm completely clueless. VNN must have paid him millions to take you in."

"He's not a dunce." Blake shot out quietly, but considering everyone was silent and listening to me get berated she sounded like a thunderclap.

"Oh?" My teacher grew a savage grin. None of the students knew this, but this teacher was once denied the opportunity to come here under the previous headmaster. Scored _just_ under qualifying in the academics. "Care to explain why he can't do a simple equation that any civilian 14-year-old would be easily able to do?"

"Care to explain why you can't take out a simple Beowolf that anyone in this class would be _easily able to do?_ "

He scoffed. "Easy, I never trained at a hunter academy."

"Yea, well, neither did my sister but when a pack came running, she sure as hell let them have it!" Yang threw her arm around Ruby as she said this.

"Yea!" Ruby agreed with a thumbs up. "Wait, you knew about that already?"

"Got it on tape, little sis." Yang nudged her sister's shoulder with a wink.

"Enough! I understand the point that you are trying to make, and it simply isn't applicable. For graduation, Mathematics 1, 2 and 3 are all mandatory." The teacher rapped his pointing stick against the board, just as the bell rang. "Mr. Arc, come see me after class please." Coincidentally, the odd chime that I learned signals the next class sounded right as he finished speaking.

With a sigh I turned to my team. "You guys can go ahead, this shouldn't take too long." With a wave we split up and I went to go see the balding teacher.

"Torga, was it now?" My eyes narrowed.

""Yes, that is my name."

"Don't worry lad, you aren't in trouble. I had to stage that little shindig to give me a reason to give you a tutor. Ozpin told me a little bit of your story, and as crazy as it seems, I have faith in that eccentric man. If he says you're from what's essentially a magic version of the past, then we'll have to get you back up to speed. Your tutor will be a second-year girl named Velvet Scarlatina, she should be here shortly." He glanced at his scroll. "Tell your team to come back inside, the teachers are on their way as well. We have some more things to talk over, both in regards to your education and in regards to this new show you're a part of. You two might as well come down here too." He gestured at Deanna and Alan. The pair conversed for a second, before Alan put down his camera and the pair came down to the front of the classroom. I fumbled with my scroll for a few seconds, trying to set up a call to Pyrrha. Luckily I was saved from the professor's looks by my team walking into the room accompanied by a girl with rabbit ears.

That was something new. It was odd, the ears matched her hair colour but none of the rest of her body had hair. It was as if some sick man had amputated a pair of bunny ears onto her head but other than that she was completely normal. I shrugged and pushed it out of my mind. I'd seen and fought both against and alongside stranger beings.

They were followed soon after by the large Grimm Studies professor, a tall lanky man with a metal cylinder, as well as Goodwitch and Ozpin.

Ozpin strode down the steps with a small grin. "Torga, I trust your first day is going well?"

"Considering I've envisioned the portly professor over here naked and found I know next to nothing of maths, not too well." I told him.

He nodded. "Yes, to someone that didn't grow up with an education in the fundamentals, I can see how you could be confused." He diplomatically left my first comment untouched. "Fortunately, we here at Beacon are all about teamwork, and we won't let you stay behind. Ms. Scarlatina?"

"Hey there!" The rabbit girl said with a smile. "I'll help you get caught up in math, if you'd like."

"Very interesting!" The lanky man with green hair spoke quickly. "A man in the body of a child, with memories of a distant world." He brought the cylinder up to his mouth and with a slurp allowed me to identify it as some kind of water-skin. "Tell me man, what was the greatest threat to your world? Was it famine? Disease?" He lowered his voice conspiratorially . "Monsters?"

"Professor Oobleck, you can interview your student later. I believe you have a class with him tomorrow. This meeting is called to determine how we are to educate Mr. Arc."

"If I may." I interrupted, "I'm not a stupid man, and I'm a fast learner. I do know some math, I can do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It's when you start throwing letters in there that I get confused. I believe that with the help of someone who understands and can, for lack of a better term, dumb it down for me, I'll be able to catch up in no time. Some classes, like Phys Ed and Grimm Studies, I'll be fine. I'm a warrior, not a scholar, though it seems you'd like to turn me into both."

"Right you are, lad!" My math teacher said. "He who worships the sword and neglects the pen will find himself the strongest in the darkness of ignorance, but he who finds a balance between will also find balance within himself."

"So Ms. Scarlatina will be your tutor. Velvet, should Mr. Arc improve, we will look into your request." Glynda said, still looking at her tablet. "Team JNPR, I expect you to also help your leader when he needs it."

"Of course." Pyrrha said with a nod.

Ozpin tapped his cane on the ground. "Now, the next object of this meeting. Our camera crew here will be following you around the school and out of the school. VNN has rented a Bullhead for your team's usage on the weekends, however you must be accompanied by either a teacher or a second year team. I also have a few rules that the crew already knows about, but you should all know too. Firstly, they will not be permitted to film in any dormitory other than your own. Second, they will not be permitted of displaying more than five consecutive seconds of actual lessons in class. Should the lesson be interrupted for debate or conversation, as tends to happen with our students, that will be permitted. Finally, while on screen you must be either in the Beacon uniform, or your registered Huntsman Apparel. Pyjamas are not acceptable. We are Huntsman, we must be seen as heroes and guardians by the public. Show humanity, not weakness. Show empathy, not pity."

"Ozpin, sir?" Ren raised his hand. "I own a set of meditation robes. Would those be permitted?"

"That can be reviewed later. Have a wonderful day." He looked at me. "Good luck, Torga."

Ozpin headed for the door, followed by Glynda. The wide-set professor followed and my math teacher turned to start erasing his chalk board. The green-haired teacher was suddenly in front of my face. "Tell me, Torga, how old are you right now?"

I thought back. "Pushing on 60 years old."

His eyes widened. "Phenomenal. The things you must know, the stories you could tell!"

"I have plenty, if you can get me a hard drink." Pyrrha gave me a dirty look.

"I.. well this puts me into a spot." He looked to the camera crew. "Come to my office after your classes and we can have a talk."

"After their interviews." Deanna spoke.

The green-haired man was already leaving. "Wonderful, truly wonderful."

We were left with the teacher and our camera crew.

"So… now what?" I asked hesitantly.

"Pancakes!" Nora shouted. "C'mon Ren, we need to hurry before they're all gone!" With that she was off, ignoring Ren's insistence that there would be no pancakes at lunch.

Pyrrha chuckled. "Shall we?"

I nodded. "We shall."

* * *

By the time Pyrrha and I had caught up to our team-mates, they were striding through the large doors into a great hall. This was a huge room, worthy of the High King. I pushed open the doors to follow, and managed about 5 strides in before I noticed that every eye in the room was on us, and the innocent chatter turned to hushed murmurs.

Ren shuffled uncomfortably, Nora was oblivious, and from what I knew of Pyrrha's history, she was used to being the center of attention. I, too, was used to being the center of attention, but that was due to my previously intimidating body.

"You don't look that tough to me, blondie!" A boy with light brown hair and a few pieces of armor called from his table.

"Why don't you go ask your sister how tough I can be?" I shot back, and the murmurs went dead silent.

"Jokes on you, dweeb, I don't have a sister."

"You will in…" I pretended to think. "About 8 more months."

 **Taunt's level has risen by 1!**

A collective "ooooo" rose from the crowd, cutting off when the boy slammed his fist down on the table. I grinned, an angry opponent is an easy opponent no matter what the battle may be. "Why don't you come and say that to my face, new guy?"

I shrugged, and began walking over to him. He stood and cracked his knuckles. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the stares on me and the palpable tension in the room. I quickly muttered "Observe"

 **Cardin Winchester**

 **The Cardinal's Legacy**

 **LVL 24**

Good, this guy isn't as strong as Pyrrha. I've been itching to fight someone on equal terms since I got here and with semblances being thrown around like they were iron arrows, it's been hard to get a fair fight in.

Anyways, I eventually got to the sneering male, looked him dead in the eye, and spoke. "The only way your mother's lower lips could be looser is if I shoved your fat head back up there."

 **Taunt's level has risen by 1!**

His eyes widened and he flinched back as if struck. I saw exactly what was happening, as it happens to all that are successfully taunted, regardless of these gamer powers. He was shocked, then his teeth grit as he finally comprehended that he could not come back from that, then I heard the faint scraping of his armor as he tensed up. Before he even punched I noted his weight shift onto his right leg and his left foot slide slightly forward.

I struck before he finished his blow, ducking low even as I was jabbing a fist into his unarmored armpit. With his arm immobilized I moved behind him and pushed his right shoulder as I pulled his left arm up. With a spin and bend, I threw him over my back and slammed him onto the floor.

What many people seem to forget is that I have around 40 years of experience fighting other humans. The Grimm, they were new and different. Teaching the boy a lesson was child's play, pun fully intended.

A hand dropped on my shoulder and I began swinging, only for something to hold my hand back.

Pyrrha stood before me, a look of severe disappointment in her eyes. "We should probably go."

I shook my head. "I'm not done yet, Pyrrha. Trust me for just one more minute alright?"

She huffed and drew her hand back from my pauldron, letting go of my gauntlet at the same time. Her Semblance really is tricky, to everyone around it looked like I stopped when I saw her. However, I'm the leader of the team and if the whole school saw me backing down to a team-mate I would gain a bad reputation, exactly the opposite of what I was trying to accomplish.

I turned around to the boy on the floor. "Appearances can be deceiving, my short-tempered friend." I extended an arm out to help him up.

He looked around, the anger leaving his face and shame replacing it for a brief second. I rolled my eyes and reached down to grab his hand before his pride inevitably kicked in. I leaned into his ear. "No hard feelings, I hope. Can't have anyone calling me out on the first day, ya know?"

His eyes narrowed, then he let me drag him up to his feet. I dusted off his shoulder jokingly. "Let's spar properly sometime, let you get back at me." With that he snapped out of his daze.

 **Cardin Winchester: Reputation +150!**

"You're on blondie! You won't stand a chance with Beaufort in my hands!"

"Coming from the guy that thinks I don't look tough?" I raised an eyebrow as I crossed my arms across my chest.

He smirked. "Appearances can be deceiving, my short-statured friend."

I stared at him for a second before chuckling and holding my hand out once more. I knew this type of guy. Absolute asshole to most everyone he hasn't fought before, and still an asshole after, but earn his respect and you'll have a friend for life. Part of me is a big fan of the militant-aggressive types, simply because they're so predictable and easy to lead. Gotta wonder how I ended up with a monk, a crazy girl, and an Imperial. "Jaune 'Torga' Arc. Remember it as the name your allies will cheer and your enemies will curse, should you stay here."

He grasped my hand, his smirk breaking into a grimace. "Cardin Winchester. What'd you do to my arm?"

"Just a little something I picked up along the way. You should be fine in an hour or two, I didn't hit hard enough to bruise too deep."

"Yea, yea, you're lucky my aura wasn't up, tough guy."

"You're lucky mine wasn't active either, little birdy." He snorted and sat back down, waving me off. I shrugged and turned back around to Pyrrha. She looked slightly confused, and was about to speak before I noticed it was still silent.

"Show's over people, get back to your food." With that, the tension broke and the school kept eating.

* * *

"On the first day, Mr. Arc, really?"

I pointedly didn't reply to the headmaster, finding myself again within his tower.

He sighed. "Torga?"

I perked up, pretending I just noticed he was speaking. "You talking to me?"

"Don't be obtuse." Glynda snapped.

"Fine. Yes, on the first day. On the second, and the third, and the fourth. I've done too much for some snot-nosed kid to start insulting me based on this body. Besides, we've already made up." Well, assuming that reputation bonus was anything to go by.

"Be that as it may, you're on TV now. We can't just let this slide lest it worsens our school's reputation. Especially with the victim a member of a prominent Vale family. The Winchesters were one of the clans that founded this Kingdom."

My face went white. "Divines, I didn't attack a prince, did I?"

"What? No, there's no princes." Goodwitch seemed confused.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Who's the king?"

Ozpin gave a playful smirk. "There is no king."

I shook my head. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would you call Vale a Kingdom if there isn't a king? Who runs this town then?"

"Tell me, Torga, which sounds more romantic to the masses? The Kingdom of Vale, or the Elected Fascist Councilship of Vale?"

I scoffed. "That depends, what does the second one mean?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Regardless, you have an option. You can either deal with a three day on-campus suspension, or allow your producer to organize a friendly sparring match between you and Mr. Winchester to show both that he is a more capable Huntsman-in-training than you made him appear to be, and that there is no bad blood between you."

I leaned back. "So you want me to lose and enjoy it, if I hear you right."

Ozpin narrowed his eyes. "Very perceptive, Mr. Arc."

"What does the suspension entail?"

Glynda spoke up as she read from her large scroll. "All activities will be monitored by an appointed staff. The student will only leave his or her dormitory for classes until the end of suspension. The student will furthermore be required to pass the semester with an average grade of 80%."

I looked at her blankly. "Pass the what with an average when?"

She sunk her head into her free hand. "Say you have 100 lien. If you get a question wrong, you lose a lien, and at the end of the course you add up how much you have left."

"So I can only get 20 questions wrong?"

"Not quite, I'm sure Ms. Scarlatina would be glad to go over it all." Ozpin ended the trail we had gone off on.

"I'm sure. I choose the suspension. Do I just go back to my dorm and wait for three days?"

Glynda's mouth opened slightly in a gasp and I inwardly smirked. Bull's eye. "You would rather have a suspension on your record than have a friendly competition?"

I shook my head. "No, not at all. But the way it's happening now isn't friendly, it's forced. I mean, if part of my punishment is to fight him again then sure, throw us in the ring and watch what happens. But we had already agreed on sparring each other. I don't need a stage to test the strength of a fellow warrior, I need my blade and a flat area. Besides, I wouldn't want to embarrass the boy in front of apparently the whole Kingdom, now would I?"

"I wouldn't be so sure you could defeat him that easily, Torga. That boy comes from a long line of Huntsman, he's likely been training with his weapon since he could hold a mace." Glynda glared at me.

"Are semblances permitted in sparring?" I asked, wanting to be certain.

"Yes, of course they are." She replied, slightly taken aback. "They're as much a part of someone as their own two feet."

"I stand by what I said, then." I nodded at her, turning my gaze back to the headmaster.

Ozpin had gained a twinkle in his eye, and a grin that I thought was much too cunning. "You wouldn't be interested in a small wager then, would you? If you think you can beat Mr. Winchester's whole team, fighting alone, then I will remove the suspension."

"I know I can win that one. It's not fair to volunteer his whole team to fight against me for him, especially not this early in the year. Were I in his situation, I would want to fight alone to prove to my team that I was worth having as a leader."

"Maybe interested in a team bout?" He offered.

"Sir, if you're trying to fuel a rivalry, let me tell you right now that it will not work on me. I'm interested in sparring this Cardin fellow, but if he can't keep up than having him as my rival would be a detriment to the both of us. That being said, sure. I'll have a talk with Cardin and my team, and we'll get back to you." I stood. "Am I free to go?"

Ozpin nodded as Glynda's mouth opened yet again. "Get… get _back to us_? Listen here little man-"

I had already been on my way to the lift but I whirled around anyways. "No, you listen to me, witch. I am no child! I'm older than every single student here, and half of your staff. I'm far from home, confused by half of the shit you guys say, and I _can't even get a fucking drink_. What backwards society limits the age a man can get drunk at? Barbaric." That said, I whirled myself right back around and stalked my way into the lift, not letting up my angry act until the doors slid shut.

I waited a few seconds, then burst out laughing.

 **Glynda Goodwitch: Reputation -800!**

 **Professor Ozpin: Reputation +800!**

* * *

" _I'm your host, Deanna Goldstien, and welcome to Hunter's Gate! We'll be following a team of novice Huntsman on their path to glory and heroism, and only fate knows what will happen!"_

 _The shot transitioned to Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune 'Torga' Arc in front of a blackboard. "So what would you say the craziest moment of your initiation was?"_

 _Jaune chuckled. "Aside from getting shot through the gut with a feather, you mean?"_

 _Pyrrha punched his shoulder. "Not that one, the good one. Well, the better experience in my opinion. "_

" _Yea, Yea I know." He replied._

" _Regardless, I'd have to say the craziest moment was when Torga here took charge out of nowhere. Don't get me wrong I value our team, but at the time, Nora and I were the hard-hitters of the team, and Jaune just orders us away from him and Ren, telling us to head for the clearing we spotted earlier."_

" _That seems like an odd decision to most, Torga. Care to elaborate on what you were thinking?"_

 _He nodded. "Sure. What most of you didn't see was that I'd had a bit of emotional troubles in the moments preceding the ambush. Grimm are drawn to dark emotions, meaning I had accidently drawn a beacon to my team. I needed a bit of time and distraction to calm myself so as to not draw any more Grimm to us, so me and Ren played a game I knew from back… back home."_

 _The shot cut to Ren in a meditative pose outside. "He thought he could take 5 out quicker than me." He shrugged, and Torga appeared back on screen._

" _I sent the wrecking crew to clear us a path because with all the Grimm heading right to where we were, I knew we would need a quick exit strategy. We managed to create enough of a gap to leave a large amount of the beasts behind and regroup at a more ideal location."_

" _Then he got launched at the Nevermore!"_

 _Torga laughed as Nora butted into the frame. "Thank you for the lift, by the way. It was thanks to all of you I unlocked my semblance when I did."_

" _And it was thanks to you and your semblance that we got out of there in one piece." Pyrrha said with a grin._

" _Can you elaborate more about your semblance, Torga?"_

" _I could, but isn't showing so much more fun than telling?"_

* * *

I couldn't help it. I was absolutely pumped up for this fight. Every spare moment in the last few days had been spent training with my team. We'd gotten through the first week with no major hiccups, other than an incident with Ruby and Weiss of clear jealousy. I made sure to make an attempt to nip that in the bud but none of my context-less advice was heeded.

I'd gained a level, though I hadn't placed any of the points yet. My experience with the Initiation Quest had shown me that I wouldn't really know what I needed until I needed it. I'd gained a few status points from studying, making apparently wise decisions, and training. My Status page looked great, in my opinion.

 **Status**

 **Name: Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **Level: 16**

 **Race: Human**

 **Title: Dragonborn**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: 15.78%**

 **HP: 435**

 **AP: 432**

 **STR: 10**

 **VIT: 7**

 **AGI: 12**

 **INT: 12**

 **WIS: 51**

 **LUK: 10**

 **STAT: 5**

Aura Mastery, Power Strike and Grapple had also come a long way. I didn't even need to use AP for Grapple anymore, the only thing improved by levelling up that skill was the lowered damage. The opposing team were all around my level, save for Cardin.

It had also gotten over-hyped, or so Cardin says. Many of the first-year teams were there to watch. I figured the second and third years have already seen people fight at our level and the fact that they weren't here today excited me. It meant that I already had some goal to work towards, even if it was only the attention of those that were currently more powerful than me.

Well, I did already have a goal. I got this notification shortly after speaking with the leader of team CRDL.

 **[Quest Alert:] Boys Will be Boys!**

 **Cardin Winchester wants to spar with you. Show him who the champion is!**

 **[Main Objective:] Defeat Cardin Winchester in Arena Challenge.**

 **[Side Objectives:] Defeat Team CRDL**

 **Win the fight alone**

 **[Reward:] 1000L, Cardin Winchester: REP+, Beacon Academy: REP+, 10,000XP**

 **[Failure:] -1000L, Beacon Academy: REP-, 500XP**

 **Accept? [Yes] [No]**

It was really a no brainer to accept it. Once I had seen that my side objectives included somehow getting his team to step up, and my team to step down, it was a simple matter to tell Pyrrha about my potential failure consequences and she promised to convince Nora and Ren. On the condition that I talked with her after this was all over, which was absurd. We share a room, not talking to her would be incredibly difficult.

From there all I had to do was tell Cardin in front of his team that I didn't think they'd stand a chance even together, and we were all set.

So, there we were, in a different training area than we usually had. This was a large octagon with bleachers on each side and small portable 'shield mittens' that made sure nobody watching got hurt. The terrain was hard packed dirt. I twirled my zweihander once and then locked myself in a ready pose.

My opponents did the same, Cardin with his mace, backed up by a dual-wielding daggerman, another with an axe, and the last with a standard sword.

I grinned. "Maybe with eight arms you guys might be able to hit me once!"

"Maybe with only two you can.. Shut up, blondie!" One of his lackeys said, and I rolled my eyes.

"One last chance, Winchester. Surrender and you won't be hurt."

He scoffed. "As if you could hurt me."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, as I believe it is said… Come at me, brother."

He rolled his eyes and sent his minions running at me. I stood there in my ready position, watching them approach as a group. _Closer… Closer… Now!_

" **FUS RO!"**

With a burst of unexpected and unimaginable power, Team CRDL went flying right back past Cardin. The three close to me hit the barrier, signalling them as out of bounds, while Cardin drove his weapon into the dirt, falling to a knee but withstanding the attack. I shot the harpoon into the ground behind him, then launched myself forwards, hand rearing back for a punch.

He lifted his huge mace up to block my hit, and I felt a sickening crunch as my hand collided with the metal haft of the weapon. I rolled back, then jumped away from a follow up strike that dented the ground and sent dust up into the air. I used that distraction to roll my hand around, and to my massive surprise, it felt perfectly fine.

I barely had time to duck as he swung at my head, and pushed forward, ramming right into his stomach. With him moving back, I began unleashing a never ending combo of speedy blows that he parried or dodged. When one finally sunk through his defense, I grinned in triumph, though short lived as he kicked me right in the chest. I rolled back to my feet only to see him mid-air with his mace raised high above his head. "Hope you like your chicken crispy!"

I tried to move back again, but his mace exploded with a great ball of flame,sending me flying back. He laughed as I got to my feet. "Beaufort here works with any dust, but it was specially made for fire. So what do you say, blondie? How about we turn up the heat!"

He held the mace straight out at me, and a massive torrent of flames erupted from its tip. The amount was worthy of a _dovah_ though the heat and pure destructive power were quite lacking. I shuffled to the side as the flames went past me, then held my sword up parallel to the ground, blade pointing away from my opponent. I aligned my body, and Spoke:

" **WULD!"**

In the blink of an eye, my sword's pommel smashed into his face with the force of a whirlwind and he was sent sprawling. I glanced at my scroll, currently set to 'spar mode', to see that Cardin had about two-thirds of his aura remaining. I just needed a glance to the floating blue bar in my vision to see that I had barely gone through any.

The great part about my shouts is that I don't need to use any AP to activate them. They did still need their time to 'recharge' but that was negligible.

I aimed a kick at my opponent's stomach, but he rolled away and to his feet.

"It's over Torga, I won from the start." He said, pulling a large red crystal out of his pocket.

My eyes narrowed. "Observe"

 **Super Red Dust Crystal**

' **Super' Dust is very similar to real Dust in that it shares all of the same abilities and attributes. However, it is able to expel all of it's natural power at once, making it used heavily in artillery, explosives, and specialized weapons.**

My eyes widened as he took the dull old crystal out of the head of his mace and slotted the new one in, the mace gaining a glow as if enchanted with fire.

He laughed and pointed it at me again. "This will be an expensive victory, but it _will_ be a victory! _Flare Cannon!_ "

A small glow appeared at the tip, before a fucking star shot at me. It was too wide to go around, too high to go over. The roiling ball of furious flames made an almost leisurely pace, though it's speed did not matter when I could not get around it.

I sighed, breathed a quick prayer to Stendarr that he might make this lacking armour into a warriors salvation, and sprinted at the flames.

"You know nothing of fire, boy!" I dug deep inside, thinking of the teaching of Paarthurnax.

" _In your tongue, the Word simply means 'Fire.' It is change given form. Power at its most primal. That is the true meaning of 'Yol.' Suleyk. Power. You have it, as do all dov. But power is inert without action and choice. Think of this as the fire builds in your su'um, in your breath. Su'um ahrk morah. What will you burn? What will you spare?"_

" **YOL!"**

The inferno that erupted pushed against the force of Cardin's attack, halting and disrupting it. I ducked my head into my shoulder and continued my charge, the foul smell of burning hair assaulting my nostrils. When the heat faded I looked up to see Cardin standing before me, jaw dropped and eyes wide.

I lowered my shoulder and rammed it into his stunned form, sending him staggering back. I didn't pause in my momentum, wrapping my arms around his chest and throwing him to the ground. Before he could recover, he found my foot on his chest and the point of my blade at his throat.

The arena fell silent for a brief second, then a voice broke the spell.

"Woohoo! That's our leader!" Nora cheered, and that opened the floodgates. Applause and more cheers flooded my head and as I looked around at the adoring masses, I decided I happened to like this place quite a lot.

* * *

 **AN: Well shit, guys and gals, I need a bit of a suggestion. My original plan was to, unlike every other Gamer fic, not have the MC focus on WIS and INT, but I'm having a bit of difficulty. Increment Skills (the ones achieved at level 50, 100, 150, etc.) are not too difficult for the INT and WIS areas, but I'm having issues coming up with ideas for skills. Any input would be nice and while I may not use your exact suggestion, I will take them all into consideration as I create my 'skill tree'.**

 **In other personal news, I realized how easy it is for an English speaker to go teach English in another country. I could be in Japan or China by June, should I so choose. I'm picking up a job at a gas station to hopefully stave off the stupid student loans, and I'm severely cutting back on the pot smoking so hopefully, with my shit together, I'll be able to update a little more frequently. Thanks for the support and interest, readers.**

 **Poor Torga, all he wants is a drink.**

 **~HHR**


	11. Chapter 10: Forever Fall pt1!

"I'll be honest, Professor, I wasn't bothered much after that. Cardin was impressed and like a good warrior, asked me to spar with him more often. I accepted, as my team needed someone to practice working together against. Pyrrha didn't like it, as it meant she had to be a bit more discrete with her semblance, but the positives outweighed the negatives, at least in terms of the whole team."

Oobleck nodded. "Right. Have you spoken with Pyrrha, then?"

I shrugged as I took a sip of what he calls coffee. It was apparently supposed to be similar to alcohol, and I could feel the tell-tale burn as it went down my throat, but the feeling was different. It was as if I was waking up while I was getting drunk, not something I would be quick to use in celebration. "I haven't. Why should I? As the leader my job is to ensure what's best for the team, not for Pyrrha. If she wants to be petulant and sabotage that with doubts, that is her problem, not mine, so long as she follows orders when it counts."

He grinned. "Can you be so certain that she will, Torga? You need to remember these are just children, not soldiers or warriors. They need to know you're there for them as a leader, but they also need to know that you're there for them as a friend, as a team-mate."

I shook my head. "Wouldn't that be nice? The commander that drinks with the infantry is a fool. His orders must be seen as though they are not coming from a man, but from a god."

"Then what we are doing right now?"

"Is simple." I retorted. "The relationship between teacher and student is based on mutual respect. I respect that you know more about this world and it's history than I, and you in turn respect that I'm not a child and wanted a drink. I don't suppose you have any mead, by the way? A taste of.. Home.. would be most welcome."

He slurped from his thermos then gave me a look from across the table. "From the sound of it, you don't believe yourself. Yes, mead is in fact still popular in Atlas, though I don't believe we have any locally. I will speak to Ozpin, see what we can't do."

"My thanks. You were asking about the species of my realm, correct?"

He leaned forward, the glint returning to his glasses. "Yes. You say that you have men and another called elves, like our faunus."

I tilted my head to the side. "Sort of. Men and Mer are two distinct species, while each have sub species. The Mer, or elves, were divided into High Elves, Wood Elves, and Dark Elves. There was a species of snow elves native to my province of Skyrim, but they were driven to extinction in a trick deal between themselves and the technologically superior Dwemer, who have also since died out."

"Fascinating. And there are no remnants of their civilization?"

"For the Dwemer, yes. Their underground cities remain, though in rubble and ruin. They are dangerous places, still guarded by the Dwemer automatons that prowl their halls even after hundreds of years."

His eyes fell. "I assume these other elves have a more sad story."

My eyes also fell to the table and I took a sip of my drink. "Much more so. The Falmer were once a surface race, with a civilization beyond that of any men or mer. They were the first race of mer to settle my province, and they flourished alongside the Dwemer for many years. Eventually, as happens with most of elvenkind, they determined men to be an inferior race and attacked. The snow elves fell upon the city of Saarthal in the dead of night, butchering our warriors while they slept and taking our women and children to be kept as… _pleasure slaves_."

"By the moon…"

"Three men survived the attack, fighting and slaying over 30 of the monstrosities, or so the legends say. One of these men, named Ysgramor, vowed vengeance, and called upon his fellow warriors, the Five-Hundred Companions. With them at his side, he began the extermination of the Falmer. For many years they fought, and the ranks of the Falmer fell and fell. See, in a generational war, the side that can reproduce faster wins. The Falmer had a distinct monogamous culture, and their females had longer pregnancies than men. Seeing his species fall to the men like wheat before a scythe, the leader of the Falmer turned to the subterranean Dwemer for aid and shelter. They were admitted into the ancient cities, on the conditions of slavery and a blindness inducing poison. Over the generations, the Falmer were warped into the savage and feral beasts we encountered in my time, still prowling the ruins of the Dwemer cities."

"...That has to be one of the most tragic fates I've ever heard." Oobleck stated, slower than I've ever heard him speak.

"Depends on your view. To me and mine, it was a story of determination and will to survive against a faster, smarter, and more technologically superior race. To the elves, it's a tale of hubris, one that the High Elves are eager to forget in their cultural invasion of Skyrim. Yet to all it remains a tale of the dangers that lie below the surface, and the cruelty that accompanies intelligence." I explained.

"And what of your men, are they divided like so?"

I scoffed. "Aye. There are nords, a strong and hardy people native to the tundras and mountains of Skyrim. Then there are the rest of them dark-skins, weaklings and milk-drinkers the lot of them."

Oobleck coughed in the middle of a sip of coffee. I waited patiently for it to stop. "Racism will get you absolutely nowhere around here, Torga, I suggest you quell that opinion immediately. Here, we are all the same people, the colour of our skin having little to do with our mindset."

"So the woman with rabbit ears was a fluke?" I said sarcastically.

"No, she was a faunus. Like your kind have elves, we have the faunus. They are identical to us except they often display an animalistic body part, as well as mannerisms reflective of said animal. Most faunus are also more able to see in low light situations."

"So they are a superior race. Talos damn it." I muttered. "You just wait until another Night of Tears hits, and there will be war."

"There already has been a war, the Faunus Rights Revolution, though that will be thoroughly discussed in class." He stood from behind his desk, and by nature I followed. Social niceties are not beyond me, and this Professor earned my respect the minute he treated me as I was and poured me a drink. "Speaking of which, I must get going." Before I could process, I found myself standing outside his office quite confused as the sound of impossibly fast footsteps rounded a corner down the hall.

I looked both ways to see that I was alone. With a shrug, I began following his trail leisurely. With a glance at my scroll, I noted that our Bullhead wouldn't leave for another hour or so. In the meantime, I looked over my status menu while I walked to our dorm to get my armour.

The majority of my time since the fight with Cardin was mostly focused on getting me caught up to the level of education I would require to not raise suspicions. That training put my INT up a few points, and I spent the rest of my status points to bring my INT up to 23, which in turn boosted the rest of my skills through Aura. In fact, my physical skills shot through the roof when it was active.

 **Name: Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **Level: 16**

 **Race: Human**

 **Title: Dragonborn**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: 21.2%**

 **HP: 435**

 **AP: 457**

 **STR: 10**

 **VIT: 7**

 **AGI: 14**

 **INT: 23**

 **WIS: 51**

 **LUK: 10**

But when I flared my Aura…

 **HP: 435**

 **AP: 457**

 **STR: 21**

 **VIT: 15**

 **AGI: 26**

 **INT: 23**

 **WIS: 51**

 **LUK: 10**

With the increase in INT, I also saw that my aura recovered in just under 15 minutes, even less when I was meditating.

I also came across a problem I had thought of before but was too stupid to test. My WIS hadn't gone up once since I'd used the status points on it. That lead me to believe that my stats got harder to increase by training as they went up, which makes a certain sense. I made a vow to only use my status points when I absolutely had to from now on, and to figure out a better training schedule. The value of my st

I closed my status and opened up my inventory, looking at the items I'd gained.

 **Mesynnefa**

 **Clothing Item (Torso), Rare**

 **A shirt made of the feathers of a Giant Nevermore. Grants status effect "The Early Bird". Grants status effect "Bird of Prey". Grants status effect "Feathers Grimm".**

 **+10 Elemental Affinity (Air)**

 **+50% Movement Speed**

 **+50% Attack Speed**

 **+200% Visual Prowess**

 **Kathamati**

 **Clothing Item (Eyes), Ultra-Rare**

 **A set of goggles that allow the user to see through illusions and walls up to 1m thick. Grants status effect "You Can Run…".**

 **+10 Elemental Affinity (Air)**

 **+100% Vision Range**

 **+100% Visual Skill Effectiveness**

With both of those equipped, I would gain 4 different status effects. With a quick check, I found I could poke the name of the status effect on my status screen to figure out what the status was. Right now I was Healthy, which provided a small 1% bonus to experience gained. I couldn't, however, figure out what the status effects did until I was already under them, which was somewhat worrying. I knew about alchemy, and I knew a little bit about enchanting though I've never done it myself. Regardless, among both there are artifacts and potions that have both positive and negative effects. I resolved not to try either of them on without my team around to make sure I didn't go on a psychotic rampage or something.

I did really want those goggles. They would be incredibly useful, meaning I could refrain from unlocking my Detect Life shout.

I entered our room to see Pyrrha brushing her hair in the small mirror on the bathroom door. Neither Nora or Ren were present, and the TV crew was seemingly with them. She glanced over when I walked into the room, flicked her eyes down and went right back to brushing her hair.

"Pyrrha." I said, walking over to my bed.

She said nothing, just started brushing her hair a little bit faster. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I had never been much for the drama of Imperial girls. Skyrim lasses knew what was what, that there were more important things than petty squabbles when a marriage can be snuffed out in the cold just as a candle by a breath.

I instead walked over to her, waited until she finished her stroke, then took the brush from her hands. She let it go easily. "Pyrrha, we need to talk."

She took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. "Yes we do, Torga." I went over to my bed and started pulling pieces of armour from a box under my bed.

"First, though, I need your help with something. As soon as I'm done, we can talk as long as you need to." Her resolved look turned to a glare. I sighed and said what I thought I wouldn't have to say. "I just didn't know who else to come to." Her glare melted instantly.

"What do you need?" She strode over to me.

"Do you remember when I was seeing boxes and that kind of thing?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I do. You told me you knew nothing about guns and proceeded to identify my ammunition."

I nodded "Right. So I got a couple of items but they say that it will give me what the boxes call 'status effects'. It says that my status right now is healthy, so I'm assuming whatever happens will change that. I'm just not sure if they will be good or bad changes." That was a lie, the changes would be incredibly useful, I just didn't know the side effects.

"So you want me here to restrain you and remove the item if it's hurting you or if you tell me to, correct?" She said flatly, to which I nodded vigorously.

"Perfect, thanks! Now for the first one." I quickly opened my inventory and equipped the goggles before she could protest

My eyes burned in pain for a brief second and a terrible pain erupted in my head as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing, then it all clarified seemingly instantly. I saw everything around me in an entirely new way. I could see lines of pulsing energy travelling through what looked like wires in the walls. Water flowed through pipes, and a boy the next room over was dancing. Pyrrha was completely detailed for me to see, from her veins and organs to her skeleton and muscles. I felt my vision shifting through layers as I thought about them. With a struggle I looked towards my status screen and was blinded by the glow.

It took me a few seconds but I was able to squint enough to see a pop-up.

 **Status Effect You Can Run… has been disabled by Gamer's Mind!**

With a grunt I tore the goggles off and shoved them into my inventory. I had to blink a few times and my headache came back with force, but I slowly adjusted to normal vision again. I glanced over at Phyrra to see her eyes wide.

"What _was_ that?" She breathed.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why, did it look scary or something?"

"No, I've just never seen anything like that."

"Some gear that I got from the Nevermore. It lets me see further and gives me something called an Elemental Affinity for Air." I explained. "That wasn't the one I was worried about. This one is." Before she could reach me I equipped the shirt.

It popped into existence over my torso, replacing the shirt I had been wearing. It fit like a long-sleeve tunic, though felt surprisingly smooth.

 **Status Effect The Feathers Grimm has been disabled by Gamer's Mind!**

 **The Early Bird (Status)**

 **The early bird causes most harm! If opponent's HP is at 100%, inflict 500% damage.**

 **Bird of Prey (Status)**

 **While attacking from above, sacrifice 99% F.O.V. to achieve perfect accuracy. F.O.V. restored 5 seconds after landing, or upon removal of Mysennyfa.**

Wow. Just… wow. This piece of gear is built around surprise attacks, and the goggles around finding targets. How ironic that the Dark Brotherhood's one failed contract just recieved the perfect tools to play assassin.

 **Elemental Affinity (Air) +10!**

 **Due to your elemental affinity, you've unlocked the skill Featherweight!**

 **Featherweight (Active: 10AP)**

 **You fly like a feather. A perfectly aerodynamic feather.**

 **Mass -95%**

 **Duration: 3 Seconds.**

"Hey Pyrrha?"

"That would look terrifying to civilians, Torga, you can't wear it in public." She tried, but I shook my head.

"Not what I was gonna ask. What does the word 'mass' mean, and what would it mean to have 95% less?" Her eyes shot open.

"95%, are you certain?"

"Absolutely. Why, is that bad?" I replied.

"Depends. Try it out." I shrugged and did so. The three seconds came and went and all that happened was me feeling light on my feet. Pyrrha just stared at me expectantly.

"Um.. Have you used it?" She asked. "I guess you weren't exactly moving. Try jumping, maybe?

I nodded. "Yea, hold on." I jumped into the air and activated it as I was doing so. That resulted in me crashing head-first into the ceiling. I flailed helplessly as I slowly fell back to the ground. The skill cut out and I fell the rest of the way with a clank.

I looked over to see Pyrrha holding back laughter. "Okay, I'll admit that would have been funny." With that, the dam burst and she started chuckling before breaking into full blown giggles. I flatly stared at her. After a few moments, she held her laughter long enough to point behind me.

Deanna was red-faced as she held her own laughter in from the doorway. Alan, the stoic professional, had a slight grin as he pointed the camera. I shrugged and got to my feet. "You guys think that was funny? Pyrrha, I've got an idea..." After quickly checking to make sure that my new skill still worked while I wasn't wearing the Nevermore cloak, I explained it to her to the extreme amusement of all three.

That was how I ended up defenestrated for the first time that week.

.-.-.-.

The Bullhead was quite loud from the outside, but on the inside they used some sort of technology to dampen the sound. It was a good thing too, because I didn't want to repeat myself. In the shuttle with me was my team and the Math professor, Mr. Barnes. He reluctantly agreed to be our supervisor for our first trip to town. That was perfect, because I needed some help with my power, and he seemed like the man that would be good with numbers.

My plan had been to only keep Pyrrha in on the secret, but I figured I would need some more help to take things in context. I still wasn't entirely sure what mass meant but it seemed to be the same as weight so that's what I went with. F.O.V. meant Field of View, which made me wonder what it would be like if it was reduced. Regardless, I'd rather not bring too many in on this, and if I had to bring in any teacher it would be Barnes. Oobleck was originally my first choice, but he wouldn't have had much to offer in terms of the "game".

I spoke loudly. "Alright team, time for the surprise."

Nora's eyes lit up. "We're going to the waffle house?"

"Not quite. I've got a couple more things about my past, and recent history to tell you. First, if you have any questions about what I said during the clusterfuck that was our second initiation, now's the time to ask."

Pyrrha looked thoughtful and Nora's hand shot into the air.

Ren just shrugged. "You've got an apparent 60 years of experience. I'm sure you'll tell us what's relevant when you want to bring it up." Nora's hand shot back so fast I wasn't sure I'd seen it up in the first place. The grin never left her face, though.

Mr. Barnes cleared his throat. "Just a few questions, Torga. What was the state of your homeland when you left? Will they be needing their alleged greatest hero any time soon? Did you shirk responsibilities to go adventuring?"

I rounded on him, prepared to deliver a tirade of epic proportions, until I realized he wasn't asking for my own sake, he was asking for the sake of my team. These WIS points really come in handy sometimes. "I left plenty behind if that's what you're asking. I'll sum it up: After I defeated Alduin, things got a little bit more peaceful but not by much. I'd ended up raising my own band of mercenaries that were famous across the province and in many parts of the Empire. I'm nearly certain that, short of another vampire prophecy or end of the world scenario, they can handle it. I left my home in good hands.

"As for responsibilities, I'm a mill worker by trade, hero by fate. I never once had a responsibility to the people of Skyrim. I could have easily walked the path of Miraak and started a cult to worship me. Certainly wouldn't be that hard, and it would make life easier, but sometimes you've got to choose between what's easy and what will keep your wife and kid safe. Fat lot of good that did me." I muttered that last bit darkly.

"Sorry to dredge up old memories, then. I see now that you aren't the type to leave unfinished business." Barnes looked slightly uneasy.

I nodded. "You're right, and thank you. The second thing is, when I woke up after the first initiation, Pyrrha and I discovered I had a different kind of power, one I didn't have back home, though they compliment each other nicely. Do any of you know what a video game is?"

Ren dropped his head into his hands, and Barnes was the one to chuckle.

I shook my head and continued. "Well, apparently, I've become a player of video games. All of my traits are represented by numbers in blue boxes, and as I defeat monsters and finish quests, I level up and can get faster. I only discovered my semblance because after we beat that Nevermore, I gained enough experience to pass level 10, the requirement for my semblance."

Now the bald teacher burst out into a hearty laugh. I waited patiently for him to stop, apparently the concept of video games was taken with mixed reactions. "Astounding. There was a team a few years back that had a man with a similar ability, but his was centered around a book and set of dice that he could summon. You say you can open screens and see the numbers behind what you do? Can you also learn skills from books? What happens when you take damage? What level are you right now? Better yet, what level am I right now?"

"Wait, you know something about this?" I asked, as my team and I stared at the man.

"You think I wouldn't figure out everything I could about this? This is combat centered around _numbers_ , it couldn't be more perfect of a fit! Now, my questions?" He deflected my questions with unrelated statements and more questions.

I pulled up my status screen. "I'm level 17 right now. I think I can learn from books, when I take damage it hurts as the injury would but immediately vanishes, and…" With a quick observe I discovered his level was 12 and told him.

"So it worked…" He muttered to himself, standing and moving up to the pilot's cabin. "Pilot, bring us in to Pad Diego, it's in the industrial district."

"Why the change of plans?" I asked, suddenly a little wary.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm taking you to someone who can help with your powers." He pulled out his scroll and made a call.

"Listen, man, I didn't wait until we were in a secret area to tell you just so you could tell your buddies about the 'freak', alright?"

He pulled the scroll away from his ear. "Quiet down and screw off, I'm calling the other Gamer, he's going to meet us at a skill book shop. You've gotta decide on your build as soon as possible, before it's too late and you're a jack of all trades."

"What's so bad about that?" I wondered. "With my skill I can literally be a master of all trades."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay Torga, how much more difficult is it for you to gain levels as it gets higher?"

"Well the amount of XP needed gets higher but I get more from stronger monsters." I told him.

"So let's just assume we're in the future, you're level 200 with all your stats evened out and a bunch of skills to fight with. Let's also assume that there's such thing as the strongest monster ever, and say it's level 1000. This monster has literally all of its points in Vitality, meaning that as you're trying to kill it, it's healing faster than you can damage. Automatically, your opponent has won. Now, if you specialize in… What are your categories again?"

I saw where he was going but felt stupid for not realizing it before. Clearly I needed more INT. Or WIS. Or both. "Strength, Vitality, Agility, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck. I also get Shout Points, but I can handle that on my own."

He waved it off. "Okay so let's say you also choose Vitality. Now, you're the one that can heal faster than he can attack, but that would put you into a stalemate of two beings endlessly battling without getting anywhere. Romantic, but utterly useless. Say you specialize in strength. Maybe you could do enough damage to destroy it, but if you're too slow than it won't matter because unless you can one-hit it, you lose again. Agility seems like a good build for your fighting style, being able to hit without being hit pretty much gives you the win in most fights, but you'll be easily taken out by explosives and area-of-effect attacks. The guy we're meeting went for the intelligence and wisdom side of things, and I'll let you see what he can do. I just need to say now, do _not_ go for luck."

"I wasn't planning on it." I mused. "I'll be going for strength, and splitting the rest between Vitality and Agility."

He shook his head. "Typical berserker. Think about your team, and what they're good at. Then figure out how to best build yourself to become a power in your own right, and be a force multiplier for your team. If you can learn skills through books, it will be easy to find some relevant skills to the 'class' you choose."

I nodded, slightly distracted as a screen popped up.

 **[Quest Alert:] Tutorial End!**

 **You've almost got the hang of your powers, Only a few things left to go before you unlock your full potential!**

 **[Main Objective:] Complete Tutorial**

 **-Speak with other Gamer and choose a class**

 **-Craft your own weapon**

 **-Pass all Mid-Term Tests**

 **-Clear Forever Fall Temple**

 **[Side Objectives:]**

 **Reach Level 10 before the end of the Tutorial**

 **Earn 10,000L before the end of the Tutorial**

 **[Reward:] Unlock General Menu, Skill: Dungeon Access, Skill: Dungeon Escape**

 **[Failure:] ERROR(CODE:769-CODE:770)**

 **Accept? [Yes] [No]**

"Did something pop up just now?" Pyrrha asked, and I nodded again.

"New Quest, it would seem that my tutorial is almost over and I can unlock a general menu, as well as a couple of skills." I didn't mention the oddity that I found in the failure section, because I had absolutely no plans on failing. "All I've got to do is talk to this other Gamer, craft a weapon, pass all of my tests, and clear the Forever Fall temple, whatever that means."

Barnes looked down to his scroll, then at me with narrowed eyes. "Professor Goodwitch isn't announcing the trip to Forever Fall until this Wednesday, and the students will be nowhere near the temple, and for good reason. I suggest you say no to that quest."

"Are you kidding?" Nora spoke up. "Leave the poor man trapped in the tutorial? That's like going to the movies and the previews never end! Pure cruelty... I say we help him out!"

The math teacher sighed. "Please, save your conspiracy for when a staff member is _not_ present."

"Party pooper…" she muttered, which got drowned out by the whine of the Bullhead's engines increasing.

A crackling sound occurred before the speakers awoke. "We'll be touching down in 2 minutes. You want me to park or pick up a holding pattern?"

Barnes scoffed. "What is this, a warzone? If there's no fees here, put it down. If there is, just fly back to Beacon and talk to finances about fuel reimbursement."

"Sir, all due respect, I'm a military pilot getting put on civvie escort just because they're on T.V., and if something happened to them there would be Grimm attacks everywhere with access to electricity. That being said, I'm therefore authorized to fly in the emergency zones. On top of that, VNN is footing all transportation costs including docking fees and fuel, so I'll be doing whatever's safest for my bird and for the kids. My personal suggestion would be to do as Huntsman do and just jump out over top of their target, and I'll circle above wherever that is, but you aren't a Huntsman and the fall would break your legs."

Barnes rolled his eyes. "Just dock at Diego, fuel up, and keep the engines hot. We shouldn't be too long." At that, I rolled _my_ eyes.

"He's no chauffeur, Professor." I said, internally very proud of remembering that word from one of the white-themed girl's tirades. I could remember the other three, but white-hair's name always eludes me when I try to think of it. I like to think it's because I can just read her name above her head whenever I need it so I don't bother remembering. I walked up to the entrance to the… ugh.. cockpit. "Pilot, what's your name?"

"Flight Lieutenant Richard Mavis." He called back.

"Well, Richard, are you to be our permanent pilot?"

"Yes sir, at least until the first year is up!" I had to hold onto the wall to keep from falling over as we decelerated.

"Well, welcome to the team!"

He paused for a few seconds before answering. "I'm part of a team already, but thanks for the gesture."

I observed him, unable to find out much through the flight suit and chair.

 **Richard Mavis**

 **LVL 25**

 **Upon Salvation's Wings**

My eyes shot open as I realized he was stronger than me. Hell, he was stronger than _Ren_. "Have you seen combat, Flight Lieutenant?"

He burst out laughing. "Do Grimm exist? Of course I've seen combat, what the hell do you think the military does while you Huntsman hit up boarding school? We hold the line, you get the credit, we get replaced by shitty robots that couldn't hold a door properly nevermind an extended battle needing advanced tactics."

I nodded. "Seems we simply should have gotten someone more suited for the role. So what do you do all week while we can't use the Bullhead?"

I could tell he wasn't happy as his shoulders tensed up. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful. Every day I'm flying you guys around is a day I can go back to my family in one piece. A part of me just wants to get back into the action, back to defending humanity so my family can have a _future,_ you know? I mostly just do routine maintenance then go home for the night during the week, but they have me on standby all weekend." With a jolt, the Bullhead touched down, and the pilot began flipping switches and turning keys. The sound of the engines whirred down. With that he stood, pulled his helmet off, and brown eyes met my blue.

"You're a dark-skin." I said before I could help myself.

"What the fuck did you just call me?" He stepped towards me with his arm raised threateningly.

I held my hands up. "Hey you could be fucking purple for all I care. It's just where I'm from, men with dark skin were much more different from us nords."

"Why, because they look different?" He accused.

I looked at him like an idiot. "Everyone looks different. I'm talking more along the lines of a different culture, one that employed slavery and…" I shuddered. " _Curved swords._ As a whole, they were rather militant, and quick on their feet, easily countered with heavy armour and a hammer."

At that, Nora giggled and Richard snorted. "We going to have any problems?"

I held out a hand. "Not if you can fly half as well as I think you can."

"You're god-damn right I can." He said, the aggression fading as he clasped my hand.

-.-.-.-

We actually ended up meeting the guy at an abandoned warehouse. He was pretty basic looking, if a tad old-fashioned. He wore a pointed hat and brown cloak, both worn from travel. Underneath he had brown pants, black boots, and his chest was crossed with bandoliers of…

"Oh look, potions!" I said, pointing before I could help myself. I was worried I wouldn't be able to find any alchemists here but my patience paid off.

The man in question chuckled. "So I take it this is our new gamer?"

Barnes nodded. "From what I can tell, he seems to be modelled after an action-oriented RPG. What's different is that he's a _video game_ character."

His eyes widened, before taking me in again. "Have you learned any skill books yet?"

I nodded, slightly uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me. I'd seen it before, as thieves were brought into the opulence of the Jarl's palace. _Greed_.

He turned back to Barnes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you can party-level him, he could graduate this year and fill out your team?"

"That's definitely not what I was…. Okay, yes it was, shut up. Wanna party, kid?"

"Hold. The fuck. On. I was told shit was going to be explained to me, and I feel absolutely no more informed than I did. I don't even know your name. I haven't even played a video game before!" I burst out, comfortable in lying again.

 **Jakkins Turner**

 **LVL ?**

 **The Dungeonmaster**

He shrugged. "I'm Jak. What do you need explained?"

I opened my mouth then caught myself. What _did_ I need explained?

"What's a party, and what's a dungeon?"

He raised an eyebrow. "A dungeon is an area of a game, or in this instance, the world, that has been overrun by enemies. Dungeons are full of loot items and are opportunities for levelling and getting more money. Your party is traditionally the people you bring into a dungeon with you, though it can also apply to hub areas. Anything else?"

I thought again. "I need help choosing a class, though Barnes here said I shouldn't go as a berserker. Any ideas?"

Jak pulled out a heavy-looking leather bound tome, size reminiscent of the Black Books on Solsthiem. He flipped through the pages, glancing up at me and my group of team-mates standing near the door. He nodded.

"Go for the druid, or monk." I stared at him flatly until he got it. "Right, you're a newb. Druid's are like nature guardians. High defense, high healing, limited nature magics. Monks are high healing, high wisdom, and you can pick a tag stat though splitting between strength and speed isn't unheard of. What did you do before you came to Remnant?"

"I never said anything about being from somewhere else." I said, drawing my sword out of my inventory. He rolled his eyes again and snapped. In a flash, I was upside down in the air holding a rubber chicken while Jak inspected my blade. "Put me down!" He snapped again and I fell onto my head, doing a small bit of HP damage. I picked myself up off the ground.

"I ask again." He said with no change in expression.

"I was a hero, and adventurer. I was a warrior." I spat as I brushed myself off.

"Equipment?"

"Plate armour and two-handed sword."

"Any powers?"

"I'm the Dragonborn." I stated proudly, to which he gave me a blank stare. "I can breathe fire and shit." I sighed out.

"You could go flame-knight… hm... or maybe a beast-tamer? Nah, Grimm are better for XP… Only one way to figure it out. **Dungeon Create: Training Ground!** " He shot his hand up and a flash of light came from his palm, blinding us all.

When I opened my eyes we were in the same warehouse. "What did you do?" I looked around to see my teacher and team missing.

"Dungeon Create, it's a skill of mine. We're exactly where we were, just slightly off with the dimensional when and where. Don't worry about it. The reason we're here is because it will allow us to spar, and when we're done I'll be able to go back over it all and see where you messed up."

"What makes you so certain I'll mess up?" I asked, flinching as I suddenly had my sword in my hand again.

"You will." Jak said simply, waiting for me to make a move.

I shrugged, then sprinted at him with my sword off to the side. Typical shit, really, but he was dressed as a mage and I didn't want anything to do with that. I shot my harpoon at him to get him to move, but the bolt shot right _through_ him and sank into the wall behind him. He moved out of the way of the rope, grabbed it, and pulled me off balance. I heard the clanking of bones off of wood, before an unseen force slammed me face-first into the ground.

"Sorry about that, didn't think I'd roll a crit!" He called out. I rolled back to my feet. Holding my sword to the side again, parallel to the ground, I called back.

" **WULD!"**

I shot past him, sword slicing into his torso as he came apart at the waist, blood flying along the arc of my blade. Then I was face-first in the ground again, and Jak was laughing.

"If at first you don't succeed, keep trying the same thing, I guess."

I narrowed my eyes and sunk into a defensive stance, holding my ground. He snapped and the ground beneath my feet turned to quicksand. I waited patiently for my Thu'um to return, then shouted once more.

" **YOL!"**

The sand at my feet dried instantly, sending a cloud of steam up to burn me. I accepted the damage, yanking myself free and leaping into the air with a use of Featherweight. As I hit the roof, I twisted to put my feet against the surface, then pushed off with all my might as the spell faded, launching me down at Jak like a bullet. I waited until I was just above him, then released another shout, causing me HP and AP but still casting the desired effect.

" **FUS RO DAH!"**

He didn't budge, but simply stepped to the side as I crashed into the ground in front of him. I didn't stay down long, rolling to my feet.

"How the hell are you still standing?" I asked, literally shocked.

 **The Status Effect "Shocked" has been applied. Duration: 5 Seconds.**

"Pro Secret." He said with a wink, before raising his hand into the sky. " **Dungeon Escape!"**

With the sound of shattering glass, we were instantly back in the original warehouse.

He turned to the professor. "He's got a ridiculous way to go, but I know how fast that will fly by. For now, let him grow as the game says." He turned back to me. "For now, don't worry about your class. Learn what skills you can, and train to make use of your physical stats. We can speak when you're done the tutorial."

He raised his hand in the air and snapped, disappearing into thin air. I was immediately on guard, though my Gamer's mind helped me realize that if he had wanted to hurt me, he would have done so. It also helped me swallow my fear.

I am not a man accustomed to fear, but if he could show up at literally any time from any place. I breathed a quick prayer to whoever was listening, then sighed.

Partha broke the silence, thankfully. "Is he always so… "

The math teacher shrugged. "Hunters." He said by way of explanation, which made a certain kind of sense. From what I heard, we were talking about becoming heroes, and there's not a whole lot personality-wise that one can do. After all, if you need to choose between dealing with oddities and saving lives from the Grimm, patience is all of a sudden much easier to come by.

We soon left the warehouse, myself in deep thought about what to do as the others bantered.

"So now we go find pancakes?" Nora asked hopefully.

"I'm sure we can find something to eat while we're in the city." Pyrrha assured her.

"Torga said there would be pancakes, Pyrrha." Ren said solemnly. "At this point, we would be safest giving them to her. Trust me."

Pyrrha glanced over to see a slightly manic look in the orange-haired girls eyes. It filled her with not fear, of course, but instead trepidation.

I tuned them out, following the steps of those in front of me idly.

Given what I had learned, it would seem I had the possibility of becoming whatever I wanted. I couldn't help but wonder if there were other books I could learn skills from. Divines, if I had access to the library at the College of Winterhold with this power, Urag would have been unable to stop me from devouring every book I could.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a building. Turning my attention to it fully, my eyes widened, and I was quick to dash across the street to look into the window.

I saw a two men inside, both of them Faunus.

 **Adam Taurus**

 **LVL 65**

 **The Devil's Advocate**

 **Tukson Winnigo**

 **LVL 27**

 **Who Rides Uncertainty**

What was really important was all of the pop-ups that occurred when I looked through the window and used Observe.

 **The Skill Book 'On Aura and Weaponry' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'Dust for Dummies' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'Dust and You!' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'Nature's Wrath' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'Horseman of the North' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'Horseman of the West' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'Flying for Dummies' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'Art of War' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'Practice Makes Perfect!' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'History of the White Fang' has been located!**

 **The Skill Book 'Flight of the Valkyries' has been located!**

With a grin I barely held back, I walked under the sign labelled Tukson's Book Trade.

* * *

 **Meet Jakkins, people. He's going to be a Gamer, though not a majorly prevalent one. Mostly as a counter-point to our good friend Torga. See, in most gamer fics, the main character goes for intelligence and wisdom to out-think and manouver his enemies. Meanwhile...**

 **"TORGA SMAASSSHHH!"**

 **This will be great fun.**


	12. Chapter 11: Forever Fall pt2!

I pushed the door of the building open with the ringing of a bell. To their credit, both of them stared at me incredulously as I made a beeline for the veritable horde of skill books.

"Thought you locked the door?" The red haired one growled.

"I thought I did too." Tukson muttered, before calling out to me. "Hey kid, we're closed right now, get lost!"

I looked at him flatly. "It's…. 2:23 PM on a Saturday. From what I know, you'd be hard-pressed to find a store that's closed at this time. You guys up to some private business, that's fine, I just want to grab a few books and leave."

They shared a wary glance, and Adam began to walk slowly towards me as Tukson made for the door, likely to lock it. I sighed. "Sorry kid, you've seen us together. We can't have that."

"Hey, whoa now, I won't tell anybody you're gay, I swear!" I backed up a step as Adam laid a hand on his sword. His movement caught and he briefly let out a snort.

The windows turned slowly into shaded, and the door locked with a click.

"So you're saying you have no clue who I am?"

I glanced above his head.

 **Adam Taurus**

 **LVL 65**

 **The Devil's Advocate**

"No idea, but you look pretty tough. If it's between me leaving and a fight against you, I'll leave." It almost physically hurt to admit that, but Adam had the highest level I'd been able to see. Coincidentally, without my team or any sort of advantage, I would likely die in seconds.

"At least you aren't stupid." He pointed out. "But we aren't gay."

I glanced over to where Tukson had been to see him now gone. "Okay. What are you then? Werewolves? Vampires? Assassins? Part of a continent spanning plot to overthrow the men and install Faunus as the superior race? I had to deal with that shit before except with elves."

I couldn't see his face past his mask, but his whole body tensed up.

"That's where I recognize you!" A voice said loudly from behind me. I jumped and whirled around, and instantly found myself with a red blade at my neck. I did not want to see how much damage a decapitation from a level 65 enemy would do, so I stayed absolutely still.

Tukson, who had snuck up behind us, was holding out his scroll with… I sighed at the picture of me and my team. "Yes, I'm Torga. What of it?

Adam's sword slowly retreated from my neck, and with what seemed like a twitch, was back in it's sheath.

"Look, kid, whatever you want, just take it and leave. We don't want you here, we don't want the camera's here, and we certainly don't want to kill you." Tukson almost pleaded.

"Not so fast. Torga's going to do a little something for us, first. Tell me, what do you know about the White Fang?"

I shrugged. "Not much. You're a group of Faunus that want equal rights. My suggestion would be move to somewhere where you're all Faunus, and start segregating the humans. Then you can negotiate terms with whoever's in charge from neutral ground."

Adam let out a short laugh. "You humans are all the same. 'Ship them off to Menagerie, what could go wrong?'"

"I'm assuming my guess that you were a part of this organization was correct?"

He froze for a brief second then relaxed again. "You were correct."

"Cool. Do you know where I can find Jeremy? He's about yea tall" I held up a hand "and carries around a Dust halberd."

"Friend of yours?" Tukson asked.

I scoffed. "Asshole almost killed me. I want to pay him back for his efforts."

Adam muttered something. "He's part of the White Fang, I can't just tell you where he is."

I reached into my pocket where I had opened my inventory, and withdrew a stack of cards. "Not even for 5000 Lien?"

Adam glanced at the money, then back up to my face. Faster than I could process, the money was out of my hand and Adam was counting through it. I made a mental note to raise my speed somehow, then waited.

Tukson wasn't waiting though. "By the moon, kid, with that kind of money you could have bought your books anywhere! Why the hell did you decide to come here?"

I shrugged again. "I saw some books I liked through the window. How much does a book go for these days?"

He looked at me oddly, which I was used to at this point. "I guess it depends on the book… comics and manga go for about 15L, while textbooks and rarer issues can go upwards of 500L. I'll give you any three books, for free, and in exchange you promise not to come back, ever again. Fair?"

I laughed. "No. I'll keep coming back, whenever I please, as I please, until you refuse to serve humans. At which point, I'll use my friend, who's a cat faunus, to come in and buy my things for me." I narrowed my eyes and lost the light-hearted tone. "Or, you can attempt to bar me from your store, and find out just how powerful my semblance is. Your choice."

He glared at me, no doubt remembering the inferno I had launched at Cardin. "Fine."

"It's all here." Adam finally finished, clearly not giving two shits about what was going on between me and the owner. "Jeremy's holed up in the warehouse district, in an apartment off of 8th and Queen. I presume you're going to try and kill him?"

I stared at him as if he were stupid.

"Right. Well, try not to get caught on camera. If he knows you came from here, he'll know I sent you."

"Which he can't tell anyone if he's dead."

Adam grunted.

Tukson spoke up. "What's your beef with Jeremy? I know he's a bit rough around the edges, but nobody's gone after him like this before."

"He messed up my friends store." I said, hoping that would be enough.

" _He_ was behind the attack at Gale's?"

I nodded. "Yea, him, a couple of thugs, and a few robots."

"Elaborate."

So I did. By the time I had finish Adam had his head in his hands and Tukson had vanished to a back room.

"I'll deal with Jeremy. You know the issue with open recruiting? We get the most racist people showing up at our door thinking our plan is to kill all the humans. Fucking amateurs."

 **Ping!**

 **[Quest Alert:] Fucking Amateurs!**

 **Adam Taurus has expressed distaste with the recruiting system and operations of the lower-caste White Fang. Help him get things back under control!**

 **[Main Objectives:]**

 **Join the White Fang without being found out by Ozpin.**

 **Reform the lower-caste**

 **[Side Objectives:] ?, ?**

 **[Reward:] 1000000XP, 100000L, +1000 REP with White Fang**

 **[Failure:] Death, Scattering, Eradication.**

 **Accept? [Yes] [No]**

Curiously, I poked the word eradication.

 **Eradication: Your very soul is utterly destroyed, leaving absolutely no possibility of an after-life or reincarnation.**

Beyond what that implied, I immediately pressed no on the quest. I give no shits about XP or money when my soul would have a chance of being destroyed. Right now, I know that if I fall in battle, I will go where I know, Sovngarde.

 **[Quest Alert:] Kind of Amateur!**

 **The White Fang could use some outside, non-affiliated help.**

 **[Main Objective:]**

 **Deliver the package in 15 minutes without being detained by police.**

 **[Side Objectives:] ?, ?**

 **[Reward:] Skill Book 'On Aura and Weaponry', Skill Book 'Dust for Dummies', Skill Book 'Dust and You!', Skill Book 'Flight of the Valkyries', 5000 XP**

 **[Failure:] -500 REP with White Fang**

 **Accept? [Yes] [No]**

This one I immediately pressed yes on.

"Look, kid, I'll give you a few books if you can get this to the post office in the next 15 minutes."

I nodded, grabbed the package, then made to sprint out the door.

The locked door.

The locked, glass door.

I was told that was the second time I was defenestrated that week. I disagreed only briefly, until seeing the definition.

* * *

I made it to the post office in 7 minutes, out of breath but pleased. It took me 20 minutes to figure out what to do and how to do it but the timer had stopped as soon as I had set foot into the building. Regardless, I made my way back to the store, took out the books that my quest said I would get, and Tukson merely nodded and made a shooing motion. Adam had left shortly after myself, it seemed.

I decided to wait until I was in my room to consume them. It turned out to be a great decision as my math teacher was furious as to where I'd been, and 'lost' wasn't a great answer when he pointed out that I had a scroll with a map of the city and the ability to call them at any time. I tried to play it off as still not being used to technology but at this point he had seen me make a call before and it fell on deaf ears.

We got back to the school, and without a word I hurried up to our room, team in tow.

"Slow down, Torga! What's the rush?" Pyrrha called.

I pulled a book out of my inventory and flourished it with a grin, then continued my light jog onwards. We got to our room soon enough.

I placed all four books onto my bed, then turned over to my team. "From what I hear, this is the most incredible part of my power. I can absorb the knowledge found in these books, and use it to create a skill that I can then use and perfect. For example…"

I picked up one of the books.

 **You have obtained the Skill Book 'Flight of the Valkyries'! Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[Yes][No]**

I tapped the yes button, and another pop-up appeared.

 **ERROR!**

 **You have insufficient AGI!**

 **You have insufficient STR!**

 **You have insufficient VIT!**

 **You have an insufficient level in the skill "Elemental Affinity (Air)"!**

 **You cannot learn this skill!**

 **Requirements:**

 **20 AGI**

 **30 STR**

 **30 VIT**

 **50 WIS**

 **Elemental Affinity (Air) +15**

"Damnit." I muttered.

"What's wrong, Torgaga?" Nora asked, leaning towards me. Ren had sat down on his bed but the girls were watching avidly.

"Not high enough stats for that one." I grumbled. "Let's try this one."

 **You have obtained the Skill Book 'On Aura and Weaponry'! Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[Yes][No]**

This time, the book disappeared in a flash of golden light, and I felt the knowledge flow into me. My sword was in my Rocker, the rocket propelled locker, but I picked up a pencil and with a brief bit of concentration, felt my aura encompass it. I grinned, throwing the pencil at Ren, who wasn't paying attention.

"Ow." He muttered, pencil hitting him with the force of a ice-ball and shifting him slightly over on the bed.

I grinned and picked up the next books.

 **You have obtained the Skill Book 'Dust for Dummies'! Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[Yes][No]**

 **You have obtained the Skill Book 'Dust and You'! Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[Yes][No]**

I clicked yes for both of them, and felt the skills take hold, even as a new, grey bar appeared over top of my AP.

I threw open the profiles for my new skills to figure out just what it was.

 **You have obtained the skill 'Dust Mastery'!**

 **Dust Mastery (Passive) LVL:1**

 **Through the usage of Dust, mankind rose above the darkness, and fought back the Grimm to carve a home for themselves on Remnant. This skill represents your experience with dust, and your ability to do more with less.**

 **Dust Efficiency +1% per level**

 **Dust Power +5% per level**

 **You have obtained the skill 'Dust Battery'!**

 **Dust Battery (Passive/Active) LVL:1**

 **A skill only available to those with a predisposition towards Dust, this skill allows the user to take Dust into their body to either store the Dust, or to activate it in the way of the ancients. Can absorb any 2 Basic or 1 Lesser Dust Type.**

 **Grants Dust Bar**

 **Dust Capacity 0/100 (+1 per level)**

I frowned. "Hey, does anyone have any Dust with them?"

Nobody said anything, so I assumed it was a no.

I quickly made up my mind. Seeing as my level didn't actually contribute to anything besides my shout points and stat points, I could train my stats and skills and still become the most powerful Level 20 alive. What did it matter if I was level 20 if all my stats could be at the level of someone that is level 70? I needed to figure out a training schedule for myself, for during the night. I'd learned that while sleeping restored my body, it was ultimately a waste of time. My HP and AP regeneration was high enough to simply sit down for an hour or two, hours I could spend studying to raise my INT.

"Can we throw you out the window again?" Nora asked. I ignored her, walking across the hall and knocking on the door there with a rap.

The door soon opened to an odd scene. The first thing I noticed was genius: They stacked their beds vertically. There was so much floor space, so much room for training and other activities.

"I'm stealing your idea." I told Ruby, who had been the one to open the door. She pouted for a second before seeing the beds I was staring at.

"You'd better, it was a great idea that was… idea-ed by yours truly!" She announced.

"Mind if I talk to…" I glanced inside and used a silent observe. "Weiss, just for a moment?"

Ruby looked back at the white-haired girl for a second, then turned back to me with a sigh. "Weiss Schnee is concentrating on her school work and has no time for romance, sponsorship, attempted sabotage, or any tomfoolery that might result in associating with common men." She spouted out, clearly scripted. "Save me." She whispered shortly after.

I shrugged. "Sure thing Ruby. I had a few questions about Dust, want to go for a walk while I pick your brain? As team leader you probably know more anyways."

She recoiled with a grossed out face. "Is that anything like picking your nose, because my dad told me guys that do that are just bad news."

I snorted before I could help myself. "Nothing like it, I just want to ask you questions."

She still looked hesitant, and would have been kind of cute if I wasn't sure that she could lop my head off before I drew a sword, were we to fight.

Yang made up her mind for us. "Oh c'mon sis, you've already seen his ass! Least you could do is talk to the poor guy."

"Yaaaang!" She shouted, pulling herself out into the hallway and slamming the door behind her. Her face flushed red and she crossed her arms in front of herself. I glanced back over to my room to see that the door had closed. My scroll was still in there, so I couldn't exactly get back in.

"Let's go for a walk, yea?" She was silent and motionless. I sighed. "Look, Ruby, doesn't matter that you saw my arse. I've had much weirder people see much more embarrassing things, I haven't even thought about it since."

Ruby quickly dropped out of the weird, embarrassed funk she'd been in. "Okay, let's go to the cafeteria. We're almost down to our last bag of cookies so I was gonna go anyway."

We set off. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I was going to ask Weiss a few questions about Dust, see if I can't start incorporating it into my combat style, but now I'm pretending to ask those questions to you because I think it would really bug her."

Ruby snorted out a laugh. "Oh yea, she won't be too pleased. She's got only herself to blame though, I don't understand why she wouldn't want to make as many friends as possible. I still remember what you told me that first night. Strangers are just friends that you haven't met yet."

"Indeed they are. The only question I've actually got is what the difference between the different types of dust is. I know that there's basic Dust, but what does that mean?"

"I know this one!" She exclaimed as we started walking down the main stairway. "Basic Dust is essentially the building blocks of nature. Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, and Lightning. Water dust is a bit rarer so people consider it halfway between basic and lesser, but it fits in still. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. "I heard about a guy that can absorb dust into his body, but only Basic Dust. Hey, wanna see something cool?"

She stopped and stared at me. "Are strawberries the fruit of the gods? Of _course_ I want to see something cool!"

I grinned and ran back up to the top of the staircase. It was one of those staircases that was meant mainly for show as it was incredibly wide and had no turns, just a grand way to get from floor one to floor two. When I got to the top, I turned, took three steps, and leapt off the top, activating Featherweight as I did. The end result was me soaring through the air until I hit the other wall, bouncing off, then plopping to the ground. I managed to use the skill again before I hit the ground, so it didn't hurt, but I still wound up having to pick myself off the floor.

Ruby was at my side in an instant, reminding me that I really should get to training my AGI. "Cool! You were like, floating! You could probably learn a bunch of kung-fu moves and they would actually work!"

Ruby ran me through the concept of kung-fu, a martial art that apparently nobody could actually use in real Hunter vs Hunter combat, or against the Grimm. She then started on a rant about the various weapons used by the kung-fu masters, giving comedic if not wholly accurate demonstrations of each.

"Hey, Ruby?" I said, once she was done a particularly acrobatic re-enactment.

"Yes?"

"Want to help me make my own weapon?"

 **Ruby Rose REP+1000**

"DO I?!"

She proceeded to explain exactly how much fun we would have designing and building it using the school's omni-foundry. When she told me that we could make whatever part we needed in mere minutes, the admittedly primitive ideas that had been coursing through my head since I got the quest were all thrown out.

Nevertheless, we soon arrived at the cafeteria. "What do you _mean_ it's closed!" Ruby exclaimed, pounding at the large, sealed doors.

"I mean it's closed. Locked. Not open. Currently not providing us with delicious food."

"We're going to starve! My family will be so sad, they'll go to Professor Ozpin and say 'Why, professor! Why didn't you just give cookies!' Then my Uncle Qrow will be like 'woosh-bam-pow!' and cookies will rain from the sky and-" Her stomach grumbled. "Aw man, I really am hungry. I blame Weiss, she said we didn't need to go for dinner until later."

I stared at her. "Dinner is literally always at 7. Why would that have changed?"

"I don't know!" She seemed truly upset.

"I know how she can make it up to us, at least." I said, pretending to muse.

"Break her legs!" Nora shouted, and I whipped around. I hadn't noticed at all, but both of our teams had followed.

As a group.

I felt like we were somehow in trouble. That is, until Yang happened.

"Soooo, did he kiss you?" My face went pale at the very thought. She's a bloody child, what kind of horrible fucking person did she take me for?

"Yang, gross!" Oh, right. They took me for a 17 year old boy.

"No." I said flatly. "I did not. Weiss didn't know enough about Dust to answer my questions, so Ruby helped me out."

"Didn't know enough abou-" The white girl spluttered. "Do you have any idea who I am, where I came from?"

I shrugged. "You're Weiss, and I'm guessing you're coming from your room." I knew full well that she was the heiress to the biggest company in the world, one that also is the leader in production, distribution, and research related to all things Dust. I also knew, because of that, she is rich and well-connected. She was also, as her title said… well.

 **Weiss Schnee**

 **LVL 37**

 **The Loneliest of All**

"I'm also going to take a guess and say that you are all here for the dinner which Weiss promised us."

"I made no such promise!" She declared.

"You said we could eat dinner later, and now it's later and I have no cookies!" Ruby shot back.

"You did say we could eat later." Yang said in whisper-speak.

"I.. You.. Ugh. Fine. I'll order us some food."

"Not a chance, Snowflake. Last time you ordered food it was a single salad with fish eggs." Yang wagged her finger. "This time, it's my choice."

I cut in. "Hey, where's Blake?"

The present members of team RWBY got a little glum at that. "She ran away to join up with those other scum in the White Fang."

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted. "She didn't do anything like that! She just needs some time alone, that's all."

"No need to argue, I was just curious. She's an adult, she'll come back if she wants to come back and stay away if she wants to stay away."

"We should still be looking for her!" Yang insisted.

"We might be able to stone two birds at once here." I pulled out my scroll, fumbling with the interface for a bit while the others chatted.

It rang twice, then picked up. I was greeted with the sight of Richard Mavis.

"Torga, I'm kind of busy here, what do you want?"

"You still around Beacon?"

"Yea kid, just trying to replace the Dust inverter but this fucking spot is too small for my fucking hands."

"Cool." I said, completely and utterly unfazed by his unmatched technical jargon. "Listen, is the Bullhead ready to fly?"

He scoffed. "You got a chaperone?"

"I can." I said.

"Then we can leave once I get this part in. You know where the Vehicle Bay is, right?"

"Sure thing. Thanks Richard, I appreciate it."

He scoffed once more. "This is my job, kid, no thanks are needed."

"Well fucking take the thanks anyway." I retorted. "Or not. But they're given."

"This is getting stupid." He replied. "See you in a few." At that, he hung up.

I turned to the assembled group. "Show of hands, who wants to go out for dinner instead?"

Everyone save for Ren shot their hands into the air, and with a nudge from Nora he also put his hand up.

"Awesome, just need to make one more call, everybody hush up."

I made another call, and this time, the face of Velvet greeted me.

"Torga, hey! I was wondering when I'd hear from you."

"Not soon enough, I think." I said with a small smile.

"Definitely. What's up?"

"I need a bit of help with something, and I also have to go into Vale. We missed dinner so I figured we'd abuse the Bullhead and get Weiss Schnee to pay for our dinner. You in?"

"I…" She glanced off to the side. "You called at a pretty bad time, Torga. Any other night I would be all over the oppurtunity to go for dinner with you, especially on the SDC's dime, but something's come up and my team needs me here."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

She grimaced. "It's… uh.. Well our leader is having personal problems." Her attention was taken by something off screen. "It- It's not like that!" She stammered, a blush creeping up her face. "Coco you-" With a deep breath she sighed and turned back to the screen. She spoke dejectedly. "I would be delighted. I'll be ready in 10 minutes for you to pic- I know where the Vehicle Bay is, he doesn't need to get me!" She shouted that last part off screen again.

I laughed. "I can if you'd like?"

Her blush faded, finally. "No. Please, for both of our sakes, stay away from my room. I'll meet you down there in 15, alright? Should I dress up?"

I held my phone out so she could see I was still wearing my armour. "I'm not."

"Alright, see you in a bit."

I hung up.

"Alright, Team Juniper, Team Ruby, Operation Schnee Dinner Company is a go!"

 **Ruby Rose REP+100**

 **Yang Xiaolong REP+100**

 **Pyrrha Nikos REP+100**

 **Lie Ren REP+100**

 **Nora Valkyrie REP+100**

 **Weiss Schnee REP-100**

 **Velvet Scarlatina REP+200**

I briefly wondered why Velvet's reputation went up more than the others did, but only briefly. I was interrupted by my second Quest of the day.

 **[Quest Alert:] Black and White!**

 **Blake and Weiss have had a row. Help them reconcile.**

 **[Main Objectives:]**

 **Find and help Blake clear her name.**

 **OR**

 **Help Weiss find Blake and have her arrested.**

 **[Reward:] Increased REP with RWBY, 10,000XP, Dust**

 **[Failure:] Decreased REP with Weiss, Decreased REP with Blake, 500 XP**

 **Accept? [Yes] [No]**

I shrugged and hit yes.

 **[QUEST OPTION]**

 **[HELP BLAKE]**

 **[HELP WEISS]**

Given as I would get the increased REP no matter what I did, and one of those options didn't end with a colleague in jail, I made the decision to help Blake.

 **[Quest Alert:] Objective Update!**

 **Black and White!: Meet Blake on the roof of Warehouse 3C at the Port by 0100.**

That left more than enough time for us to do what we needed to do. Namely, feed the masses.

Velvet wasn't there when we arrived, but that was fine. Richard was the only one in the hangar bay, cursing at the Bullhead from his spot up on one of the wings. He had pulled a panel off of the roof and had his arm jammed in up to the elbow. Ruby sped over as I learned that her fascination with weapons extended somewhat into ships. She was quite vocal about it, really.

Yang dragged Weiss off with an arm around her shoulders. Ren and Nora followed, leaving me with Pyrrha.

"It's time for that talk." She stated simply, and I sighed.

"It is." I agreed, not sure where to start.

"I'm sorry, Torga."

"I'm not, and I'm slightly disappointed that you are." At her look, I continued. "I was fully ready to kill that man. I'm not going to lie, if I see him again, I still might. But I won't go out of my way to make sure it happens. I know how you feel about the matter, and you know how I feel."

"You can't just kill people, Torga! They'll lock you away, and it's not just about you anymore. There's people that look up to us now, kids that want to grow up to be _like_ us. Do you want to teach them that murder is acceptable?"

"Hunters murder thousands of Grimm every day."

"It's not-

"The same? Isn't it? Because they seem pretty fucking alive to me. This entire world runs off of a kill or be killed society. Hell, the biggest corporation in your world is one that makes _weapons."_

She was silent for a moment. "It's your world now too."

I sighed. "Maybe so. But I won't be a perfect role model, no matter what I do. I can't be a paragon of the law, but I can be someone to teach them what's _right_. That man forfeited his right to life the second he tried to take away mine. I could forgive him. It would be a foolish mistake. I could have vengeance. That could also be a foolish mistake."

"You could move on, alive and well."

"I could. There's a lot of things that I can do, and at the end of the day it's really my decision to make. But I won't make it based on someone else's values, I'll make it based on my own. I hope you can understand."

"I don't agree, but I understand. Just because you're in a different place, it doesn't make you a different person. Just… be careful, alright?"

I sighed again, nodding to the Bullhead where Richard had gotten Ruby to fit the part in and was now showing her the weapons. "We should get going."

She put her hand on my shoulder as I took a step away. I turned back around to see concern in her eyes. "We may not see eye to eye, but I still respect you."

I nodded as a weight I hadn't noticed lifted off my shoulders. "You too."

-.-.-

Velvet had shown up soon after Pyrrha and I had finished talking, accompanied by our film crew. I was surprised to see them, though they said Ozpin sent them.

We set off soon after, and Yang picked out a bar. Without any teacher present, I told Richards to set the Bullhead down on the roof, which he outright laughed at and did immediately. My Rep with him went up for that.

The bar's owner or manager or something had come up but I'd intercepted him, telling him that we would be sure to give his restaurant glowing reviews in our next episode, which he couldn't complain about I guess. That, and Weiss showing him her admittedly shiny credit card.

I'd waved the rest of them on, though Pyrrha lingered briefly until I assured her I would be down there soon.

That was a relative truth, of course. I quickly told Richard to keep the engines hot, and had taken off towards the docks, directed by my minimap.

It took a bit of practice to get used to, but soon I was leaping from rooftop to rooftop, with the help of both my new cloak and Featherweight. I found it much easier to keep myself oriented when I had the cloak equipped, likely due to the Air Affinity.

It took me about half an hour to get there, during which Pyrrha had simply texted me once, saying be careful again. I assumed that she was then covering me. I fired off a message asking the pilot how long it would take him to get here as I reached the docks.

I got to the correct warehouse and saw Blake's prone form on the other end. I also saw a man with a tail sneaking up the warehouse behind her. I snarled lightly, pushing off with a foot and casting Featherweight soon after, sending me at the Faunus. In a quick scuffle I found myself with him in a headlock and myself with a staff pressed to my throat. Then Blake made her way over.

"Torga? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. What are you doing here?"

"Ugh. Fine, but be quiet and let Sun go before he shoots you."

Sun coughed and bounced to his feet as I released him. "Relax, big guy, I wouldn't have shot you."

I got to my feet as well, ignoring Sun. "Need I ask again?"

She huffed. "Need I ask why it's any of your business?"

I paused. My team knew about my ability, but did I trust this girl who was apparently affiliated with an alleged terror organization?

No, I decided, I didn't.

"Your team's worried about you."

She turned away from me to observe something over the edge of the roof. "They're better off without me."

"Who told you that?"

"Nobody told me, I figured it out on my own." She snapped. "Now quiet."

"You're wrong."

Sun butted in. "I'm with tall, pale, and armoured over here."

"Yea?" She shot back. "Where's your team then?"

"Hey, I left them a note!"

I cut in. "Yang seemed quite upset. In fact, they're coming out to try and find you again tonight I believe. I could tell them exactly where you are. _Or_ , I'll help you out with whatever it is you're doing, and we can go to them together. God's know Pyrrha will be pissed I bailed on them for this."

She frowned and glared at me. "Fine. We believe that the White Fang is behind the recent Dust robberies, and we think that they'll be moving it tonight, right here. I'm just hoping we're wrong."

I sat next to her on the roof. Sun sat on her other side. "I stole a few apples, want one?"

"Sure." I said, taking it when it was thrown. I was missing dinner for this, after all.

"Do you always just steal whatever you want?"

Sun shrugged, biting into one of the fruits. "Nah, I wanted bananas but the clerk was right there so I grabbed these instead."

She sighed and dropped her eyes. Only for a brief moment, raising them up to the sky with a gaze I'd seen in many. They were the eyes of someone scanning the sky for an enemy. They were eyes I imagined I'd often made.

Sun and I didn't hear a thing until about ten seconds later, when not one, not two, but _seven_ Bullheads flew in low over the water. My eyes went wide. Beacon only had 3, and that was including Richard's!

I started to get a bad feeling in my gut, one confirmed by the disembarking of at least fifty White Fang Grunts between the levels of 8 and 12. The issue here was that a lot of them had guns. Guns did a fixed amount of damage no matter who pulled the trigger. Meaning it didn't matter if they were level 1 or level 100, a pistol could only do so much damage. Dust rounds changed that, but it was largely a constant rule.

My bad feeling multiplied as I noticed Blake had vanished from our side. A bit of searching saw her creeping up on one man, a man that seemed to be directing the operation. I paled slightly and whipped my scroll out.

"Hello?"

"Richard, get everyone that's ready for a fight into that plane and get here right fucking now. I count fifty footmen and 7 Bullheads."

"Shit. Fucking shit. I can't do much against 7, Torga. Just leave the area, wait for backup. I'll call the police, they can handle whatever this is."

"You said your job is to keep us safe. I'm heading down there. Please, be quick." I added as I hung up, waiting with nervousness and glancing at the sky.

"You've got friends coming?"

I grinned as I spotted a light making it's way through the sky. "Yea, should be here in five minutes or so."

The man's face set into a frown as he glanced down to where the White Fang had finished loading up one of the Bullheads. It hadn't taken off, though, due to Blake having their leader by the throat. "Looks like we may not have that long. Can you fight?"

I grimaced. "Against that many? Hopefully."

He looked at me sideways. "It's not too late to leave."

With a clang, my locker sunk into the roof behind me, door sliding open to reveal my sword and shield. I quickly grabbed the sword, and with a groan grabbed the small shield. With that many guns, going in without a defensive option was tantamount to suicide.

I snapped around as I heard an explosion, and Blake went flying into a crate. The man with the orange hair lifted his cane and another explosive bolt shot out, hitting the ground near Blake as she tried to roll away and sending her tumbling once more.

"I've got cane guy, you help Blake!" Sun shouted, jumping off the roof with a series of flips and coming down onto his opponent with a barely blocked strike. I jumped down myself, and raced to Blake's side. A group of Grunts approached us as the rest of the group frantically loaded boxes into the next Bullhead.

"Helps on the way, we just have to hold out long enough." I assured her as I held my shield in front of my torso and myself in front of her. "You're good fighting these guys?"

She grunted then took off, faster than I could see, not that I had much time before they were upon me.

The first came at me with a overhand strike from a sword. I beat his flimsy weapon aside with one hand on my sword as the other punched him in the face with my shield layered with Power Strike, sending him staggering. I had to dance back to avoid a sweeping axe blow, though I leapt forward before the axe man could get his weapon back. Using a familiar combo, I slit the tendons behind his knees then cut cleanly through his neck as he fell.

The men paused in their advance. "Come, one by one, and let me send you to your Gods!" I bellowed out, firing a Grapple at a man that caught him through his shoulder, and with a yank and a press of a button sent him flying into the water. I laughed, a cold, cold laugh, and began laying waste to my opponents in whatever way I felt like.

A dismembered arm here, a broken face there, snapped knees and cut tendons. They came, one after another, and they died in the same way. After about 12 had fallen, they become wary and grouped up, the men with swords standing before those with guns as they attempted to line up a shot. I was peppered with gunfire as they forced me behind a crate. I was stuck there for only a brief second before the gunfire ceased.

Blake was an invisible specter of defeat among them. Where her and her ghost images travelled, men fell unconscious. In a way I was impressed in how she was able to take them out without killing them. Had I not been fighting for my own life, I would have considerex doing the same.

I rushed into their confused ranks and continued my slaughter, levelling up Longsword Mastery in the progress. I heard the annoying voice of the man in charge.

"Having fun, I see. Well as we can all see this has been a blast. Mutt, you're supposed to be security, go bite him. I'll take care of the girl."

I whipped my head around to see Sun on the ground groaning. "Blake, Sun's down!" I shouted, even as I narrowed my eyes at the man that stepped out with a particular Dust Halberd.

He laughed. "Knew we'd see each other again. You got lucky with me being injured last time. You have one chance to walk away."

I glared at him and walked right at him, even as the rest of the Grunts got back to loading. The second Bullhead had departed, and the third was quickly becoming filled as well. We were running out of time to stop this.

Jeremy's laugh bothered me as it continued. I rolled my eyes and lifted a leg as I opened my mouth.

" _ **WULD!"**_

I flew forwards, my kick slamming into his chest with the force of a whirlwind behind it. I felt something crack beneath my boot before he was flung across the dock and into the water. I turned to the man with orange hair, finally casting an Observe.

 **You have levelled up!**

 **Roman Torchwick**

 **LVL 48**

 **The Opportunist**

I briefly hesitated. As it stood, right now I had no way of defeating someone of his level. None of my skills would let me match him, and he'd already taken out Sun, a level 41!

With a clink, I saw a crystal, a red one, bounce to a stop at my feet. I also saw Roman fire a shot at the exact same time, and without knowing what I was doing, I threw myself in front of the crystal, grabbing it with both hands as I took the shot to the back.

I took some AP damage, but with a careful application of Featherweight I managed to avoid the worst of it. Best of all, I got to try my Dust Battery skill. I absorbed the Fire Dust and felt heat sear through my veins for a brief second before being numbed, like most damage. My HP took a slight hit, but my AP was restored to full. The gray bar was also filled about halfway, and was coloured a bright red.

 **You have gained the status effect 'Charged (Fire)'!**

I grinned and got to my feet, feeling as the changes took hold.

"Look kid, you should just stay down. It would make both our lives a lot easier."

I opened up my status menu, placing a single point. I then pulled a skill book out of my inventory and devoured that as well. As Roman took aim, I closed my menus and prepared myself for what was to follow.

A few things happened as he fired. I jumped, turned on Featherweight, and soared up into the air. I gathered energy into my sword with the effects of Aura Enhancement, mildly surprised as that energy took on a flaming appearance which I quickly chalked up to the Fire Dust. I then fired off the skill I had just learned, a skill called Air Slash, though with my other skills added it became something much more.

 **Air Slash (Active:30AP)**

 **Fires an arc of compressed air that knocks back the target. Used with a weapon, will apply base damage + INT.**

See, when I absorbed a skill book I learned how to do the skill. It wasn't just me going through to motions and shooting off an effect, I absorbed the knowledge of the ancient technique and knew that what I had created was not what was in the book. It was something far greater.

A thin red arc shot from my sword, flying through the air towards Roman, who easily dodged it. Neither he nor I predicted the large explosion that followed, sending him bouncing across the gravel, though he was on his feet before he stopped moving and firing those glowing shots at me as I fell. I managed to control my descent somewhat using my Air Affinity, even though I wasn't actually doing anything different, it was just that what I was doing had more of the desired effect. At least, enough for me to get down without getting hit.

I hit the ground running at Roman and opened up with a slash, which he batted aside before hitting me three times in the legs then unleashing a point-blank shot at my chest that sent me flying.

"He's mine!" Blake shouted as I flew past, something I didn't disagree with. I was nowhere close to able to beat Roman, I knew that from our short little bout. Luckily I didn't have to, I just had to keep the small fry off of her back while Blake took care of it. I grappled to a position where the majority of them were between myself and the water.

" _ **FUS RO DAH!"**_

They scattered as they always do, if not more so. I'd say about 5 got knocked into the water.

Then Blake tumbled past me. I grit my teeth as I ran at Roman again, knowing full well that this was going to hurt.

He was blindingly fast, though his technique was slightly sloppy. I started with an underhanded cut, which he stepped to the side of before whacking me in the stomach with his cane. While I was bent over he smashed it into my face, knocking me on my ass. I rolled back to my feet, dashing forwards with an Air Slash followed by a stab, but he simply ducked under the horizontal arc which tore a hole in the container behind him. He stepped back just outside the range of my stab, but was unprepared when I launch the harpoon at him. It struck hard and sent him skidding back, though I saw no blood.

He'd gotten his aura unlocked at some point.

It was enough for Blake to recover and slam her sword into his stomach, this time lifting him off his feet and rolling away from us.

I spared a moment to share a look with her. A look cut short by her shout of alarm. I looked up to see another crate, a very large metal one, get dropped on my general area.

With a shove, Blake pushed me out of the way and dove out of the way herself. It took me a second to reorient myself, but when I did, I almost wished I'd stayed under the container.

Roman Torchwick held the smoking end of his cane up to my face with a chuckle.

"Hey!" A voice called from the roof we had started on, and I saw Ruby with her scythe in hand. We were going to make it, she'd gotten here on time. Which means that any second now…

The roar of engines and the steady explosions of guns sounded as I saw Richard pull over the top of the warehouse, sending Ruby's cape flapping in the wind. A larger explosion sounded as a White Fang Bullhead exploded courtesy of a missile, wreckage falling into the water.

Unfortunately, Roman wasn't as distracted by this as Ruby was, and managed to land a surprise shot in her abdomen.

Then a girl with orange hair flew off the top of the warehouse, incapacitated the rest of the grunts in less than 3 seconds using 8 _floating swords_ , shot down a Bullhead the next second with a giant green beam of light, and then narrowly missed the last Bullhead with another shot of her attack. I was running very low on AP, and wouldn't have enough for an Air Slash for another few seconds, long enough for him to get away. I looked to the side to see Blake getting up, glancing around as I did the same, looking for targets.

She spotted Sun and raced for him, while the orange-haired girl apparently took for Ruby.

 **[Quest Complete:] Black and White**!

 **You have levelled up!**

 **Team RWBY REP+100**

A call from my scroll interrupted me from my screens. I quickly picked it up as I saw Sun slowly get back to his feet with Blake's help.

"Torga, we have to go, right now."

"But they might still need help." I said. Just because the quest ended doesn't mean that the fighting is over.

"I don't give two shits, you will get on the plane or I will get you on this plane, but if you're not gone by the time the police arrive, I'll have to leave you to it." Richard spat. "I can fly in no-fly zones, but I don't have permission to fire missiles within city limits, not even the Huntsmen are supposed to do that."

I groaned, then accepted it.

* * *

"Soo... " I was seated awkwardly between Pyrrha and Velvet, both of whom were unhappy. "I take it you guys are mad."

"You only invited me because you had to." Velvet stated flatly, her ears tilted slightly back.

"You ditched us to go play hero." Pyrrha cut in.

"Isn't that what we're being trained for?"

"Yes, Jaune, _being trained_. You aren't ready to fight the White Fang yet, there's few fully trained Huntsman that would even consider it. You don't know what you're dealing with, not in the slightest." Velvet scorned. "You could easily have been killed!"

"Which would have been my choice to make." I stated with narrowed eyes at her.

"Not anymore it isn't!" Pyrrha exploded, guaranteeing our silence. She looked mad. "You're a _leader_ now. Do you know what happens if you die? Do you know what happens to _us?"_

I paused, having never really thought about it. "I don't know, they give you a new team-mate?"

"They split you up." Velvet said quietly. "They split you up and send you back home until next year. Then, if you even make it back in, you're stuck with a new team that you don't know."

"I don't want to be split up. I like you guys." I said feebly.

"Then fucking act like it." Lie Ren said with an uncharacteristic growl. "No more walking around ignoring us, no more running off alone for some stupid reason. We're a team, Torga, so let me just tell you what that means because you can't seem to figure it out on your own." He took a breath as he glanced over at Nora. "We stand _together_. We fight _together_. If the time for it comes and we have to fight until we die, then we do it, but we do it _together_."

"Ren, we won't-" Nora tried as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"We will." He said with utter certainty. "Hunters don't get to die of old age."

"I never thought I would die of old age." I tried to respond.

"Quit being so goddamn stupid." Ren said, simple as fact. "Next time you decide to go run off and play hero, _take us with you_. We can help, hell, we can probably do better, at least for the next month or two. You've grown, Torga, but you aren't what you apparently used to be. Do you know what would happen to us if you died?"

"The team would be split up." I answered, having just heard what would happen.

Ren scoffed. "This is exactly what we mean. I meant us as people. Nora and I would be hurt. Pyrrha would be crushed."

I waited for her to protest, but she just glanced down and wrung her hands together.

Nora looked at me with something approaching pity, which instantly got me defensive. "Just… next time you do something stupid, don't assume we won't back you up. It hurts, wanting to protect the ones you care about and not being able to."

I grimaced. There was quite few times that I could have used the help of my team.

I took a deep breath in and sighed. "I've lost many, many companions. The places I went, the things I had to fight to keep my world standing for just another year… Ordinary people can't keep up. Eventually I just started going alone, tired of having to bear the anger of families dealing with loss. I… There was a time I didn't care if I lived or died." Pyrrha's eyes went wide.

I raised a hand in protest. "It isn't like that anymore. I know you are the furthest thing from ordinary. And Velvet, I'm sorry for the deception. If you want to do this over and go get dinner some time, I'd be more than happy to do so."

"Why?" She asked.

I shrugged. "You're interesting and I want to get to know you better. Why else?"

She was silent.

I took another deep breath. "Alright, team. If we do our stupid things together, then let's kick it up a notch, shall we?" I stood and walked up to the cockpit. "Richard, sorry to keep you out like this. We need you to drop us off somewhere, and it will be dangerous from what I hear."

"Are you kidding?" He laughed. "I'm having a blast! Find me a target and watch it die."

I grinned at his attitude, one reminiscent of the Nords. I turned back to the people in the Bullhead.

Lie Ren, Nora, Pyrrha, Velvet. Diana and Alan had been left behind at the crime scene, at my insistence. "Velvet, we're going somewhere dangerous. If you want to come, you can. If not, Richard can drop you off back at Beacon."

She glared at me. "I'm coming."

I nodded, happy despite not knowing how strong she was.

Or did I?

 **Velvet Scarlatina**

 **LVL 43**

 **The Mimic**

I nodded my assent. "Richard, next stop is Forever Fall Temple."

He turned around to look at me. "Shit kid, you aren't fucking around. You sure?"

I glanced at the quest I'd gotten, seeing only three objectives left. Clearing the Temple was one of them.

I turned back once more, seeing nothing but looks of determination.

Another metaphorical weight lifted off of my shoulders. I wasn't alone anymore, I didn't have to be the savior for my whole race. All I had to do was be with my team, and get stronger. That, that I could do.

"We're sure."

* * *

 **Bam, motherfucker. Two chapters in as many days. Who's good at this shit? I'm good at it. Be proud of me.**


	13. Chapter 12: Forever Fall Temple

I kinda fucked the order of things, pretty bad. Just imagine that the field trip to the forest was pushed back due to Torga being an idiot and the staff hopping through hoops to try and make it seem like he isn't. I mean that INT isn't exactly rising fast.

Also, yes, I'm aware that there was only the mention of going to Forever Fall in the last two chapters titled "Forever Fall". Consider it all leading up to this, the FIRST DUNGEON.

The temple itself was kind of impressive, reminding me - not without a pang of nostalgia - of Bleak Falls Barrow. Same stone arches, same raised platform, same entrance into a cliffside. The only notable architectural difference was that these stones were more white than the dark stone found in construction of Nordic burial grounds.

Richards set us down on the raised platform. Velvet told him to take up a holding pattern, which I later learned was just him flying in circles ready to swoop down at any moment.

"Listen up," I call, "it is currently…. 9:45. That means we have an hour and fifteen minutes until curfew. With luck, we'll finish this and get back in time for a decent night's rest. If not, well, oops."

"Might I suggest we head inside, then?" Velvet said with a twitch of her ears. "The Grimm around here haven't started moving towards us yet but it will only be a matter of time."

Nora rounded on her with eyes wide. "No way, you can tell?"

The rabbit-girl twitched her ears again. "You think these giant ears are just for show? I can hear the lyrics of music people play through their headphones. You'd actually be surprised sometimes what people listen to." She said with a light laugh.

"I'm sure." I cut in. "Now, be prepared. From what I know, this place is dangerous. When we enter any hallways, I'll go first to check for traps. Pyrrha, I want you behind me; Any traps I miss will likely be metal-based, so I'll need you to do what you can. Ren, I want you in the middle. No offense, but because I said so. Nora, you follow behind him. Velvet, I want you in the back. Your ears give us the best chance of reacting in time if something tries to sneak up on us."

I got wide-eyed stares. Pyrrha was the one to speak up. "Um… Torga? Just how dangerous do you expect this to be?"

I looked at her with utter certainty in my eyes. "I always walk into temples, burial sites, and caves expecting the very worst. From our experience with that Deathstalker, I figured you'd understand."

She opened her mouth, paused, closed it, then nodded. "Fair."

"Good. Now, if and when we come across any large areas, our goal will be to funnel them into groups."

"Who?" Velvet asked.

"Whatever's in there. As I was saying, my shouts can take care of most groups easily, or at least push them back for us to have a little breathing room. In that case, I want Nora and Pyrrha with me in the front, Ren in the middle to be our floater, and Velvet watching for ambushes. As tends to happen, at the end there will be a much stronger enemy. Stay away from it's weapon as they tend to be enchanted and can hit like a mammoth. Dodge, don't parry, and as a general rule, if you can hit him and he can't hit you-"

"You automatically win." Ren finished for me.

I took a deep breath in, then exhaled slowly. "Right. Everyone ready? Last chance to back out."

Though when I looked into the eyes of my companions, I saw nothing but determination, and a little bit of irritation from Velvet.

"Let's move."

We steadily made our way to the large wooden door. It opened, silently. I walked in, seeing a hallway that led straight to a set of stairs that in turn led down into the darkness. I pulled a torch out of my Inventory and used a quick application of Aura Enhancement to light my sword on fire. Whenever I used a skill that required AP, my Dust Battery was slightly depleted. Regardless, I had around 30 more uses left before that fire Dust that Roman threw at me was depleted. As I would be the one best suited for the torch being, you know, first in line, I dropped the shield back into my Inventory.

I used my sword to light the torch, then cut off the skill. As soon as Velvet walked through the door, though, the door was shut. It didn't swing shut, or slam. One moment it was open and we could see outside, and the next it was closed and barred over with a plank that hadn't been there before.

"Try the door." I said in a low voice. In caves like this, whispers carried much further than simply lowering your voice.

Velvet tried to move the plank, but it didn't budge. Nora lined up a shot with her hammer, but I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "We can break out if we need to. Until then, we go forwards.

She looked to her hammer, then back at the door, then to me with a pleading look in her eyes which I have long since learned to not let affect me. The Gamer's Mind didn't hurt at all. After a couple seconds she shrugged, then shipped her beast of a hammer away.

I walked past Pyrrha and Ren, and took the first steps down. Everything vanished, then I appeared in a small room with two hallways branching out.

The floors were a hard packed dirt with bits of rock sticking out. The walls were disarming, made of the same natural looking rock, but clearly not natural when it formed a room with four distinct, opposite corners. Upwards, all I could see was the walls continuing onwards up into the shadows. The hallways, from what I could see, were much of the same.

B1F, Forest Fall Temple.

You have been separated from your group! Form a party to travel between floors together!

I cursed, spouting off a few choice words under my breath. "Party Options."

Add Party Member

Manage Party

Settings

"Add Party Member"

Who would you like to add?

"Pyrrha Nikos." I said clearly.

Invite sent! Would you like to invite another?

"Lie Ren."

Invite sent! Would you like to invite another?

"Nora Valkyrie."

Invite sent! Would you like to invite another?

Shit, what was her last na- right. "Velvet Scarlatina."

Invite sent! Party full!

I closed the menus and glanced at my map. Rather than everything being illuminated for me already, all I saw was the room I was in, and the beginnings of the two hallways. I frowned at that, and even more when I saw green dots where there was allegedly nothing there. I knew that blue represented allies, and red represented enemies, while white stood for neutral.

I had never before seen green. One of them was making its way towards me, from the hallway on the east side of the room. I raised my sword, preparing for anything, though it was simply Ren that came sprinting out of the hall. He was panting.

He was panting.

"Ren, what happened?"

"I don't know! Everything went dark, then I was getting the shit beaten out of me from everywhere! I saw the light and ran for it, and here you are. Where are we, Torga? This isn't the temple!" He was panicking now, eyes shooting all around the admittedly dark room. I slapped him across the face.

"We're here now, and I have a way to find the others. Keep your shit together, they're probably more in the dark than we are and scared to boot. If there's Grimm in here.." I trailed off.

He took a deep breath after rubbing his cheek. His eyes closed, and when he exhaled and opened them, it was with the serenity I had come to find common with him, and I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding.

"Lead the way."

We found our first enemy before anyone else. We travelled down the western hallway, and when I came out into the room my map filled it out and in the southwest corner of that room was a red dot. I looked, and saw something familiar.

Undead Skeleton

LVL 3

An unarmed skeleton. I let out a laugh, then decapitated it when it rushed us with barely more than a wave of my sword. It was good to see that they were equally weak here as they were in my world. Ren was slightly more disturbed.

"Was that a-"

"Yes, a human skeleton, reanimated by magic and forced to eke out the rest of its meagre existence in the thrall of the original mage."

"Poor… it." He still looked pale.

"I would think not." I explained. "There's no trace of humanity left in a skeleton that weak, other than the shape of course. It was reanimated using a mere petty soul, nothing worth worrying over."

"Every soul is worth it."

"That's where you're wrong. Sure, your world may have done more towards weaponizing your own soul, but I can guarantee you that my world is more full of necromancers and their evil magic. This thing?" I gestured at the heap of bones. "Probably the soul of a bird or a squirrel that I just set free."

"How the hell can you quantify a soul?" He looked slightly less pale, though still slightly shaken. I noticed he looked at me rather than the remains. "I was taught that life is life, and the only thing worth killing is the Grimm."

"I was taught that if something tries to kill you and yours, you kill it first. Sometimes you need to put safety ahead of principle. The others are waiting, c'mon." He looked like he had more to say on the subject, but agreed and followed. He didn't look back.

We found Nora soon after, spinning in circles with her hammer held out. I saw the decaying corpse of a Grimm, and piles of bones against the walls. Something felt off about this place, but with Nora back I have to admit my spirit got a little bit lighter. Ren certainly had a weight lifted from his shoulders, and became as calm as ever. We headed north from Nora's room, and made our way through the halls.

Velvet was the next dot, though we heard her long before we saw her, and we saw her from quite a distance. When we finally did round the corner, she was holding… I couldn't describe it at the time, but I was later told it was a hard-light construct in the shape of a minigun. And from the only other entrance to Velvet's room, a constant swarm of skeletons poured.

I rushed in, taking a stance by her side as Nora took the other side, firing grenades into the horde. Ren fired constantly from his pistols.

"Nice of you to show up!" She called in her slightly Cyrodiilian accent, struggle to be heard over the steady roar of her gun. "It was dark in here!"

"Glad to know I brightened your mood then!"

"Good pun, T!" Nora called.

"They aren't stopping, Torga!"

"Means the next room is probably full of them, which means we need to fight our way through!"

"We have the tactical advantage, a chokepoint!" Velvet countered.

"Yea? Well then stay here, but I'm taking me and my torch and going to go get Pyrrha who is straight down that hall and right at the turn."

She didn't counter that time.

"Nora, get me a path to that intersection!" I called.

"On it!" She shifted Magnhild to it's hammer form and charged down the hallway into the skeletons. Velvet let her minigun die down, as it crumbled into nothing. When I looked back to the hallway, Nora was ferociously beating back the skeletons and holding the intersection.

I charged to meet her, shoved her aside, and unleashed my fury.

"FUS RO DAH!"

I followed closely behind the wave of force as it shattered our foes on impact. Quite a lot of them, as a storm of bones erupted into the next room. What I saw in there made me pause for a brief second.

From five different unmarked gravestones, skeletons were being thrown out at a furious pace. There was nobody raising them. Nobody digging up the bones. Just skeletons, climbing from graves, one after another.

Pyrrha was floating high above the room, standing on her shield. Sweat dripped from her brow. Luckily my shout hit the group directly beneath her, and she dropped from her spot as the room lit up and we entered. I ran over to her side as we faced a brief lull in the onslaught of opponents.

"This is new." Pyrrha muttered nonchalantly as she shifted her weapon to rifle form and began taking out the skeletons with quick, accurate shots.

"Destroy the gravestones!" I called out, confident that my order would be completed quickly as I watched Pyrrha's back. She was still slightly winded from the effort of keeping herself aloft for that long.

Nora took a total of 3 seconds to both destroy the remaining gravestones and what skeletons still lived. I took a couple of breaths, waiting for something else to jump out, but nothing happened. A skeleton ran from a passage to the south, but Ren utterly destroyed it with a palm strike. 5 seconds later, another one came, and he killed it just as spectacularly.

"Alright, everyone watch a hallway. Ren, south, Pyrrha, center and take a breather. Nora, you watch north and east, Velvet, you take west." They leapt to their positions, all business. I slapped myself mentally for ever assuming that they would be in more danger than me in here.

I whipped out my scroll, about to make a call to try and get more information on dungeons, but I had no service. None of us did.

"So… any ideas?"

It had been about ten minutes, and the only thing that happened was the regular skeleton running at us silently while Ren killed it. He had gotten bored about 2 minutes in and had started coming up with interesting ways to kill them. Now, he was tossing skulls at Nora and she was hitting them with her hammer down the hall, the sound of shattering skeletons echoed back so I didn't really care so long as the job got done.

"Hey Torga?"

"Yes Ren?"

"If I were a gambling man, I would bet you 100 lien that there's just one more gravestone down that way. If we destroy it, we'll probably get some peace and quiet."

"Sure. Take Nora and Velvet with you." I said as I tossed him the torch. "Remember, stick together and don't let that go out."

"How are we going to see?" Pyrrha asked. "And why aren't we going with them?"

I lit my sword on fire again, bringing the Dust Battery down to 29. These enemies hadn't even been worth a Power Strike yet. "Just call it a veterans intuition. Try to hurry, Ren."

"You won't even notice we were gone." He said, taking off down the tunnel with the two girls in two. I waited a little bit before turning to Pyrrha.

"Are…" I sighed, not too good at this but taking my team's advice to heart regardless. "Are you alright?"

She glanced at me, then back to the two halls she had decided to watch. "I'll hold together."

"If it helps, their souls have already moved on." I reassured, though I no longer knew if that was true. For all I knew, these could be human souls being born just in time for us to kill them. They'd started when we got into the dungeon, that much was clear. If they'd been going any longer we would have had to wade through a sea of bones to get anywhere, so these were purpose-made skeletons.

"It does."

B1F Clear!

I let a small grin pop onto my face for a brief second, before I was shocked by the appearance of a downwards leading staircase in the corner of the room. I swallowed, then pointed it out to Pyrrha, who seemed startled at seeing it. "I don't like this place, Torga. I don't like it at all." Her voice sounded strained.

"We'll get through. Remind me to tell you about the time I fought an entire coven of necromancers trying to summon the Wolf Queen, and this will seem like… well, a walk in the park."

"A walk in the park sounds nice." She said, the edge still creeping into her words.

"Sounds good, we'll have a nice relaxing day tomorrow to make up for the craziness tonight. I'll pay for food."

Pyrrha chuckled. "Don't let Nora hear you say that."

"Too late, he's committed!" She burst out as they walked back into our room. I let the fire die off of my sword and accepted the torch that Ren gave back to me, tossing him a 100L card. His reflexes wouldn't allow him to do anything but catch it.

He looked at me with an odd face. I shrugged. "You were right." He shrugged back; truly, entire songs can be written that do not convey the range of emotions that man can fit into a shrug. I was impressed.

"That's new." Velvet noted the new staircase.

"This floor is clear. Now is the time to take a rest, if you want. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that this leads down to the next floor."

"Thank you for your observation." Velvet teased with a giggle.

"You're welcome." I say flatly, not rising to the bait. "You all accepted the Party invite, so when we go down these stairs we should stay together. I say we go down in 2 minutes. I don't know about you guys but I want this over and done with as soon as possible, and if it's just 25 floors of skeletons, it will get boring real fast."

The first five floors were all skeletons. I'm not even sure where Nora had found a Grimm on the first floor but that was the only one that we saw until the sixth floor. On the plus side, I was levelling up my offensive skills like crazy.

It became routine after the second floor. Pyrrha and Ren would take the lead, shooting out any attackers before they could reach us. Ren and I swapped spots when they got closer, and I ended up creating a new skill.

Lash (Active: 5MP) LVL:1

Using a whip you cause damage and a bleeding wound.

Attack 25%

Adds Status Effect 'Bleeding(Light)'

Of course, skeletons couldn't really bleed, per-say, but the ability to attack with my harpoon without having to fire it off or retract it was a huge help. I quickly burnt through the Dust Battery, though at the 6th floor torches began to line the walls so I put mine back into my inventory and took my shield back out.

The sixth floor was home to just Ursa. We located 3 Ursa Minor spawn points, as Ren called them, then an Ursa Major clawed its way out of the ground.

I roasted it alive with my Thu'um.

We moved on.

The seventh floor was much the same, though there was a Beowolf spawn in that one.

Things changed when we got to what should have been the tenth floor.

We landed in a square room with upwards leading stairs at one side, downwards stairs at the other, and a bonfire in the middle with benches lined around the outside. It wasn't particularly cold, but the scene was so… comforting, and inviting, I couldn't help but take a seat. As I did so…

You have reached a Rest Area! HP AP fully restored! Status returned to 'Normal'!

You have come upon your first Rest Area! Here you and your party can take time to distribute status points, trade items, or even retreat from the dungeon.

WARNING! The next floor is the Boss Room. Once you enter, you cannot leave until the Boss is defeated. Should you retreat, all XP, Lien, and Loot will be returned to the Dungeon.

"Torga? What's the scoop?" Nora asked me as she sat down. "Ooohhh that feels nice. Really nice."

Pyrrha took a seat next to me, sighing in relief as she did so. "I don't know where we are but it's killed my headache. I approve."

I explained as Ren and Velvet took a seat. "It appears we're close to the end. This is a rest area, and apparently our Aura has been restored. Those stairs" I gestured to the upwards staircase, "will take us out of here, while the ones down will lead us to the boss. Once we beat the boss, we've officially cleared the temple and can go back home. Or, we can retreat, forfeit all of the rewards, and go sleep now. Keep in mind that we could come back during the field trip and clear it when we're stronger."

"We're not likely to make as drastic of improvements as you, Torga." Ren noted. "So far hasn't been easy, but it also hasn't been harder than either of our initiations."

"He's right." said the hammer maiden. "I feel like we've just warmed up. Do you know what we'll be Hunting down there?"

"No clue, but I'm confident we can handle it. You're talking to a certified hero, here." I said with a grin.

"Oh, and modest too?" Velvet prodded.

"And you, Pyr-" I cut myself off. "Partner?"

Her head whipped around so fast I think that if she wasn't in this rest area, she may have given herself whiplash. "Me?"

I looked at her seriously. "Yes, you. What do you think of all this?"

She was smiling, though the gravity of it faded as she rested her chin in a hand. "This place isn't natural. It feels wrong. It feels like we shouldn't be here." She took a deep breath. "It's felt that way for the past 10 floors. Torga, you've led us through so far. If you say we can do another floor, then I'm in."

"Velvet?"

"I'm confused and lost, but it's Ursa and Beowolves, for Pete's sake. This is nothing. Wait until you actually go out Hunting." She laughed. "Sure, came this far didn't we?"

I nodded. "It's settled. Now, I won't let my team go in there on an empty stomach."

I opened my inventory and pulled out a box. Nora's eyes lit up, and I pulled the box away before she could dare take it. "We have to share, okay? I only have the one."

I opened it up to reveal the greatest food I've encountered since I got to this world. A wonderful, steaming hot pepperoni pizza.

"Where do you keep pulling this stuff from? First the torch, then your shield, and now a fresh pizza?"

Ren waved off Velvets questioning for me. "He's weird like that."

"Damn straight." I said, grabbing a slice and stuffing it in my mouth as I passed the box on. Pyrrha passed it along, Nora grabbed 5 slices, 3 of which were gone almost instantly before Ren nudged her side and she attempted a muffled thanks, passing it to him. He took a slice, and Velvet took 3. The box got passed back to me, 3 slices remaining. I nudged Pyrrha.

"Not hungry?" I asked.

"I.. can't eat that."

"Hm? Why not?"

"I have to abide by a strict diet. My personal trainer always told me that the more grease I consume, the more likely victory is to slip through my fingers."

Everyone around me seemed to just accept this as a valid reason. I looked at her as if she was mental. "Eat the slice."

"I can't."

"No, you won't."

"I want to, I just can't."

"Nobody's stopping you. It's fantastic, promise."

"I'm sure it is."

I take out another slice and take a slow bite. "Mmmm. Tastes like victory to me."

"That's wonderful." She seemed slightly irritated, so I dropped it. Not the topic, the slice of pizza, into the fire. Nora looked personally offended, so I tossed her the rest of the box which was soon devoured. The slices, not the box, though I didn't doubt she could have eaten that too. I used my recently freed hands to equip my cloak. I would equip the goggles if it seemed like we would have the drop on our opponent, but they were too disorienting to use in a fight for now.

"Alright, let's go kill this boss so Pyrrha can drink her milk and eat rabbit food." I said, standing.

"Excuse me?" Velvet said flatly.

"I have no excuse." I replied. "I was referring to plants."

That being said, I launched myself down the stairs. As soon as I appeared in the final floor, the rest of them appeared at my back.

"We're going to have a talk about that rabbit food thing, Torga." Velvet promised as we looked around. This, here, was finally something that resembled a temple. It was a large open room, floors flat, man-made stone. In a way it reminded me of the Dwemer ruins, with the high ceiling and carved stone pillars, but that was where the similarities ended.

We could all see, but there was no source of light. No torches, no fires, nothing, it was just… light. The same light coloured stone as we saw outside was present, and on the far wall, an intricate mural was placed. I couldn't see the details from over where we entered the floor.

"Behind me." I said. "Let's go check out that mural."

"I hear a King Taijitu." Velvet whispered. "I can't pin its position."

"Keep an ear out." I said lowly, head darting too look in all directions. All I saw was the white floor stretch on for about 100 meters, then fade into shadows like the roof of the last 10 floors did. "Take the middle, everyone else make a square around her. I want eyes out in every direction." They did as asked. "At least it's just a snake." I muttered as we moved closer to the mural.

When we approached, I saw that it was, surprisingly, a picture of a giant two-headed snake, wearing a crown. Arrayed around it were various groups of people, all attempting to kill it with different methods. Nets, spears, guns, swords, a large explosion that I assumed was a bomb.

Ren traced a finger across the form of the snake, and my uneasiness grew. As soon as his finger reached the eye on the black head, well…

Sense Bloodlust has levelled up! Sense Bloodlust has levelled up! Sense Bloodlust has levelled up! Sense Bloodlust has levelled up! Sense Bloodlust has levelled up! Sense Bloodlust has levelled up!

I looked up just in time to see a white head twice the size of my body, jaws open large enough to take a car in, falling from the sky straight at us.

"Scatter!" I shouted, turning right around and sprinting two steps before leaping away. I briefly lost track of my team's position. I was a tad distracted, anyways.

King Taijitu

LVL60

King of Kings

Queen Taijitu

LVL60

Queen of Queens

I swallowed in slight fear, pausing for a second before realizing this was nowhere near as bad as two dragons. As the black head, the King, spit a glob of what I discovered to be acid at me, I noted that at least it didn't have wings.

Not to mention the black head getting a hammer to the side of the face courtesy of our favourite orange-haired Huntress. Ren and Pyrrha were keeping the Queen busy, well Velvet stood back with a camera, snapping pictures.

I dodged off to the side just as I almost got bitten in two. "Not the time, Velvet!"

"Give me two more minutes, and I can kill this thing, I swear!"

"We may not have that long, Vel!"

"Just trust me!"

I growled in my throat, unhappy.

"Fine!" I rolled across the ground, narrowly avoiding a headbutt the size of a refrigerator. I wasn't fast enough.

The beast opened it's jaws wide and tore into me, and I briefly wanted to puke as my torso was punctured through by it's massive fang, then I found myself falling from it's mouth.

You have been Poisoned! Duration:5 seconds.

"Shit." I muttered, watching my HP fall slowly. It had been at full, as I had been taking damage to my easily recoverable AP, but it was still falling at an alarming rate, on top of the damage from being bitten in twain. By the time I had dodged another couple of attacks and shot a couple of Air Slashes, the poison had worn off leaving me with a third of my health and a new skill title Poison Resistence. I couldn't get hit again. I dropped my two shout points carefully, then called to my team.

"Nora, Pyrrha, Thunderbird! Ren, Flying Sawblade!"

We lined up, taking a brief respite as the beast before us rose to its full height and roared it's challenge. I held out my arm for Ren to grab onto, then roared my own challenge back.

"WULD NAH!"

At the end of my rush, Ren held on briefly to achieve rotation even as I yanked my arm back, and soon he was flying at the head of the white one in a whirl of blades. He struck, at least 20 times with a second, before planting a foot and jumping back to me. The white head followed close behind. Ren jumped back out of range, and I swung my sword down with a mighty overhand blow, amplified by Power Strike. It cut deep, causing the beast to recoil, though the usual red mark I saw when a Grimm was injured quickly shrunk to nothing and it let out another roar.

It lunged at me once more, and I jumped into the air with a touch of Featherweight, firing my harpoon into the base of its neck and clicking the reel-in button as I let go. "Nora, Nailgun!"

She slammed her hammer down onto the black head, sending herself flying high into the air and the snakes head onto Pyrrha's raised javelin. It roared with pain. Nora, to her credit, aimed perfectly, slamming down onto my sword with so much power, my weapon shattered as it flew into what passed for the white Queen's skull. My heart dropped as I was left with only a shield, but even that would be useful as the Queen lunged at me again. I bashed its head off to my right as I spun left, jumping into the air to avoid a retaliatory headbutt and striking with an Air Slash that I launched with my shield.

"Ready, line them up!" Velvet called out.

"All you, Pyrrha!"

Pyrrha, in the greatest display I'd seen from her so far, took a hold of the shattered pieces of sword within the Queens skull, and used it to bring that head in line with the black one. It was only for around half a second, but holy shit did Velvet move.

In what look like the blink of an eye, a hard-light construction of Pyrrha's spear formed in her hands. She lined up and threw with Pyrrha's exact stance, then formed Nora's hammer, and gathered her breath.

My eyes went wide and jaw dropped when she uttered two words that ended the fight.

"WULD NAH!"

She flew forward with the fury of a storm, flipping at the last moment to strike her rendition of Pyrrha's weapon straight through the King's dark head and halfway into the Queen's. The King dropped dead immediately. The queen screeched in pain and writhed as the dragons did. I knew a perfect way to finish her, and with a leap I landed in front of her face. She screeched once more, roaring defiance to my face.

"Heh, you think your breath stinks now?"

"YOL TOOR!"

Not just a stream of fire came from me; Nay, I unleashed an inferno. A fiery onslaught of doom and destiny, my soul personified. The flames that came could not possibly have come from my physical throat, not without consuming my whole body. This shout was as much about contending your will against the ever-consuming flames of Akatosh, as it was directing such a force towards your enemies. I directed the force right down that motherfucker's throat.

The soulless one was forsaken this day, and the Queen died a horrible, painful death, though short.

I, Torga the only Dragonborn this world has ever seen, finally truly smiled.

We appeared back on the raised platform outside. I whirled 'round on Velvet, ignoring the four level up windows.

"First, cool shit. Second," I grabbed her by the throat and held her up in the air. "Who in the fuck are you and how are you able to use the Thu'um?!"

I heard a howl from the forest around us, and my eyes went wide as I realized what I was doing, immediately letting her go before anything too bad happened.

She coughed and rubbed her throat, voice raspy. "My Semblance, Mimic. I can copy whatever I've just seen."

"I.. I'm sorry for reacting that way." I shot out. "But never do that again, for your own sake. I can use the Thu'um because my soul is that of a Dovah, a dragon. Some hermits and monks could also harness this power, but it takes years of meditation to learn enough to do it without killing yourself. For someone, a normal person, to use it? How did it feel, shedding your soul from your mortal form?" I spat venomously.

She shuddered as she kept a hand on her throat. I noticed too late her knees wobble and she collapsed to the stone. She was shivering uncontrollably. "C-co-cold." Her teeth started chattering. "I-I feel e-e-empty." I rushed to her side in a heartbeat.

"W-warm…" She said, before passing right the fuck out.

I shook my head, senses dulled. We needed to get her to a healer, and fast. Fortunately Richards had already started touching down as soon as he'd seen us. I briefly noted that shots were being fired, explosions going off. It didn't seem to matter.

Pyrrha was yelling at me to get on the Bullhead, Nora was trying to get Velvet and I up. Lie Ren, calm as ever, shot countless rounds into the night. I dully noted that there were Grimm, lots of them. It didn't seem to matter.

A sharp crack, a flash of white. Ren standing in front of me. Shaking me. Another crack. "Pull your shit together!" He demanded, and I listened. My weapon was destroyed, my power had brought what was probably an irreversible condition on a poor girl who had only wanted to help. I glanced around, saw Pyrrha in combat with a pair of Ursa, Richards hanging out the back of the landed Bullhead with a large gun, firing shot after shining shot into the night.

"Juniper!" I bellowed. "Board the Bullhead, now!" I lifted myself to my feet, rabbit faunus in hand, and sprinted for the open door of the Bullhead. As soon as we were all aboard, Richards hit a button on his scroll and the aircraft launched high into the sky.

"Woohoo!" Our pilot cheered, pumping a fist. "Suck it, Grimm!"

At a lack of response, he looked around. "Why so glum, we're all fi… shit." He said, spotting Velvet unconscious in the seat next to me. "She injured? I've got medical training. I mean, it's only for humans but we really aren't that different unless her ears are infected."

My voice was low. "She's gathering her soul back in her body. If it were me, I'd have recovered by now. For a mortal… She may never recover." I paused, grit my teeth. "Shit. FUCKING SHIT!" I slammed a fist against the wall of our aircraft, careful to leave my aura off and skills unused. I felt the typical pain, the distraction I needed. Then, I felt it fade.

"FUCK!" I punched the armor again, punching when the pain faded, over and over.

Physical Endurance has levelled up!

"Damnit…" I set my jaw, took a deep breath then turned to see my team. "I'm taking responsibility for this. Ozpin wanted to make me leader, this shit is what happens."

Ren looked as if he wanted to slap me again. Divines know I'd deserve it. My fist clenched, almost daring him to do it. I stared him in his eyes.

Give me a reason.

He shook his head and sat down.

I won't.

I turned my angry gaze to Pyrrha, who returned it. "Don't look at me like that."

I bit back a savage response, instead nodding and turning my gaze to Nora.

She drew back slightly. She bit her lip. She stood. Bless her heart, she wrapped her arms around me and held me as I almost collapsed to the floor right then and there.

Marcurio…

Mjoll…

Esbern…

My wife…

My child…

And now Velvet…

Nora patted my back, then stepped back, not saying a word but I knew what she wanted to say. I could hear it, even as I collapsed into my seat helplessly.

She's still here, don't give up hope.


	14. Chapter 13: Little Red

"You will need to clearly explain what happened with Ms. Scarlatina, Mr. Arc." I sat alone in the Headmaster's office, save for the Headmaster himself. For once, Goodwitch wasn't there, just Ozpin and his ever-twinkling eyes.

I sighed, a noise barely audible over the ticking of the clock. "You're aware of the nature of her Semblance?"

He stared at me as if I had asked a rhetorical question, as I mentally kicked my own ass for being an idiot. I'm talking to the man who handles admissions, and probably knows most everything in this school on top of that.

On the note of rhetorical questions, it surprised me that this world had a name for asking a question you knew the answer to.

"You probably aren't aware of the nature of mine." I ventured a guess.

"No, and I am rather curious. Coffee?" See, this was a question he knew the answer to, but it wasn't rhetorical. I believe the difference is whether or not you're trying to make the other person feel stupid.

I snorted. "Sure, Professor, I could use one."

He pulled a pot from somewhere underneath his desk, and a mug with the Beacon standard on it. Soon I was nursing my own mug. He did not speak, just looked at me expectantly.

I sighed. "Professor, when I told you that I was the Dovahkiin, that means a hell of a lot more than fluency in some dead language. I am a man with the soul of a dragon. In my world, dragons… well, they're immortal. If a dragon is not killed, it will live indefinitely, becoming more and more powerful. If they aren't killed by a dragonborn, they can always be brought back to life, such is the resilience of a dovah's soul. Even devoid of the body, it stays as a whole entity, retaining memories and everything about the dragon really. This is the nature of my soul, professor."

"I see." He said, musing.

"I don't know if I will live to be 50 or 500, Professor. Only one other Dragonborn lived during my time, the very first and most powerful, and he was ancient. I can't verify if that's due to his status as Dovahkiin, or some other dark magic, but he was millenia old."

"Did you know him?"

I laughed, a dark, dark laugh. "I slaughtered him and his cult after he… I guess you could say I knew him. "

"Outright admission to murder. Interesting."

I widened my eyes. "He… Divine's this is hard to say… He thrived so long due to his mastery over a shout that I refuse to touch. He can… he can trap people within their own minds, force them to do as he wills at any time, forever a prisoner within their own body. The cultists I killed were out of mercy. Miraak, for that was his name, was consorting with a Daedric Prince. The closest analogy would be a demon. This demon gave him power in exchange for sacrifices. Sacrifices of blood. _Self-shed blood._ He was making men, women, and children kill themselves on an altar. So yes, Professor, I murdered the shit out of them all."

"Which has what to do with Ms. Scarlatina?"

"Nothing, just some context. See, the thing that made us powerful was our ability to use the Thu'um. When we use it, we cast out our souls unto the mortal world, shaping it with the power of our Voice. Mortals with particularly strong Willpower can use the Voice, to an extent, but in a contest between a Dragonborn and a mortal who are otherwise equal, the Dovahkiin is magnitudes more powerful. This is the nature of the dovah's soul, in that it is adaptable, malleable, and most importantly of all, immortal."

"She did not have that protection, I presume."

I shook my head. "She did not. Shouts usually come in three-word sets. Those three words amplify and control the Shout into a desired effect. When she mimicked me, she only managed to use two of the words, casting an incomplete and structurally flawed spell for another analogy."

"Which isn't good." He ventured.

I gave another dark laugh. "I, again, am gifted - or cursed - with a powerful soul. I can use any amount of words I please, though more than three will most often put me in a similar state to Velvet. The issue with this shout is the words she used. Wuld, the word for whirlwind, set with Nah, the word for fury. From what I know of Velvet, she has no idea what fury means. Not only must you know the meaning of the word, you need to know and use it in the correct context. You must take the very nature of the word into your soul, into every aspect of your being. It's as much a mental skill as anything. Had she copied the third word, Kest, for tempest, she might have controlled it through understanding two of the three words. Still at great danger to herself, mind you, but more likely to… " I trailed off, at a loss for words to explain.

"She originally hails from Vacuo, so I would assume she could have done so. They're a hardy people with no end of whirlwinds and tempests."

"Sure. As it stands, she used the first word for effect, the second for amplification, and did not have the third to draw it all together into a controlled, and more importantly, identifiable effect. She still did what she needed to do, and saved the lives of my whole team and I in the process. Most... " I caught my breath. "Most mortals to use the Voice do not survive the attempt, nevertheless stay standing after. She's strong, professor, I'm just hoping that's enough. I accept full responsibility."

"Good to know, Mr. Arc. Have a wonderful Sunday. Perhaps your team could do with a quiet day, yes?" He sipped from his mug as if the matter was dismissed.

I dropped my jaw. "Sir, I may have just killed a woman, one who was a teacher to me and was only along because I asked her to. Am I not to be punished?"

His eyes twinkled. "Did you ask her to do what she did?"

"No, but I-"

"Did she tell you what she was going to do?"

"She just said to give her some time, that-"

"Then it is foolish to assume that the fault lies with you. Also, if I'm not mistaken, you're off to go find a book to devour and use to help her, correct?"

"Of course I am! Wh-" I paused. "How long did you know about that?"

He gestured off to the side, where a TV that I hadn't noticed before showed me jumping off the stairs for Ruby and ramming into the wall. "The featherweight technique."

TV of me throwing a pencil at Ren after a book disintegrates. "Aura enhancement, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Professor?" I asked, carefully.

"Yes, Mr. Arc?"

"Do you know of any books concerning matters of the soul?"

"I can ask around, Mr. Arc."

"Thank you, Professor. I want to help her, regardless of who's responsible."

"Good day, Mr. Arc."

* * *

Swallowing my fear, I stood before a door in an unfamiliar corridor. I wanted to knock on the door, I really did. I felt slightly vulnerable, what with my weapon being destroyed, but most of my skills worked with my bare hands.

Not the point, though. I raised my hand and knocked.

A split-second later, I found myself pinned against the opposite wall by an absolutely _massive_ blade. "Where is she." The man, or giant, in front of me demanded.

"Medical." I managed to choke out, and his anger faded to concern, back to anger, and he pinned me harder, my AP dropping by the second as his blade ground against it.

"Yatsu, let him down!" The man before me, Yatsu, growled before reluctantly dropping me to the floor. He towered over me, and looked impressive, a layered pauldron on his left shoulder. Better yet, this man had a longsword. Sure, it was curved, but it was at least a step in the sensible direction.

A much shorter gir- no, not a girl. This here was a _woman_ , you could tell by how she behaved. "What happened?"

"She…" I said slowly, trying to make it not seem like her fault while still making it not seem like my fault, while still not giving away too many details of my abilities. "I have a very, very taxing semblance that she tried to copy."

"So she's just tired, she'll be right as rain then." She said easily, looking at me out the corner of her eye as if daring me to say otherwise.

"From everything I've seen, she's doing much better than most would in her situation. I hate for this to sound bad, but I also hate to lie. The fact that she's alive, and was conscious for more than 10 seconds after using it, says wonders to her strength. "

Yatsuhashi growled and lifted his sword again, but the woman put her petite hand on his arm, pushing it down.

"Will she make it?" She said simply.

I opened my mouth, then closed it. I grimaced slightly, thought.

"She won't die, not after this long, but she may not wake up soon. I'll be doing everything I can to help her recover, and trust me when I say that there's a lot I can learn in a short amount of time." I shot out in an attempt to pacify them.

She nodded. "Did she know what she was getting into?"

I sighed. "She had no idea. What she did saved my entire team, though."

The woman laughed. "Sounds like our Velvet. I swear, if her head wasn't attached to her shoulders, she'd probably forget that her own health is important."

"I'm going to go see her, if you want to…" I trailed off, not quite sure how to finish that sentence.

The woman cocked her head. "What, be all mopey with you? You're off the hook, kid. We can't afford to hold grudges in this game. If you say you'll get her back to us, then I believe you. Not many people can lie when Yatsu's got his sword in their face." She gave me a wink at that. "Now c'mon, ya big lug, we've got an essay to write." With that, they returned to their room, and I was left standing awkwardly in the hall, not even knowing that woman's name.

* * *

"You really didn't have to come with me." I said, slightly annoyed but mostly thankful.

"Nonsense, she saved my life too." Pyrrha replied as she refused to look at me.

I sighed and kept walking, still wondering how I was going to explain the events at the docks to her. Combat is combat, and people die. What's so difficult to understand?

A lot, apparently. Pyrrha was of the firm belief that we, as Hunters and Huntress', are above such ideas as murder and violence, only using power when it's necessary.

I, on the other hand, was of the firm belief that the best way to help an organism was to cut out the sickness, and allow healthy growth to replace the void. With the advance in technology, many things are different here.

For example, senior citizens. In Skyrim, when you were too old to care for yourself and had no family around to take care of you, you simply died. That was it, end of story. I learned they have an entire building full of old, decaying men, being kept alive only by medicine and technology. Such a thing struck me as disturbing and ultimately cruel. Not simply because it could not have been comfortable, living when your body is done, but because of the implications. These poor souls were being kept from their afterlife. Why, why would they want to stay behind when there is glory to be found in death?

I immediately wanted to go there with my sword and liberate those men and women from their lives of pain and prolonged suffering. There was two problems with that plan. The first being that my sword had shattered, and the second being that Pyrrha did not agree with wanton murder of seniors, and now here we are.

"I don't even know if I'll be able to fix her." I reminded her. "I haven't learnt any healing skills yet, and wouldn't know where to start with," I glanced around to ensure we were alone, "considering we're working with souls here."

She glared at me out of the corner of her eye. "Did you consider that I might be visiting her for my own reasons, rather than to watch you try to heal her?"

I turned to her with a curious look. "Such as?"

She rolled her eyes and went back to staring forward without a reply. I chalked it up to typical female behaviour and didn't let it bother me. I had more important things to worry about, mainly being that there's never been a recorded case in history of an untrained person using the Voice. I could only ever make guesses as to how to fix something that hasn't ever happened before.

I knew that impatient souls could be lost, attempting to harness the Thu'um before the full power of their soul has returned. I knew that malevolent souls could be corrupted, such as the Voice of both Miraak and the draugr.

The only case when an untrained person would use it is with a Dragonborn, which was a bit of a special case concerning the nature of my soul. In theory, I need to return her soul to her body from wherever it may be scattered. This _could_ be done with soul gems but those have been notably absent around here.

No, I needed a skill to do this, though I had no idea where to find such a thing. Ozpin pointed me to a book in the library that landed me a **First Aid** skill, but that didn't heal it just improved my efficiency using healing items and skills.

We arrived at the door to Velvet's room. I pushed it open.

She was lying in bed, seemingly asleep. Her chest still rose and fell with every shallow, too-slow looked pale, and her ears were flopped against the pillow without any of their usual life. I stood just to the side of the doorway and sighed, making sure we were alone and the door was closed before swapping my Title over to my new one I got after completing the initiation.

 **Beacon First-Year Student**

 **You've entered one of the most prestigious Hunting schools on Remnant.**

 **50% XP when on Beacon campus, 100% XP when learning from a Professor**

Unfortunately there was no professor here to learn from, but this Title would hopefully aid in my attempts.

Pyrrha solemnly took a seat in the basic chair that sat beside the bed, and took Velvet's limp hand in her own. I instead sat and meditated on the nature of Restoration magic.

I myself never wanted to use magic, but as any good general would tell you, knowledge of your enemy is the first step to victory, so I had done some research, and briefly interviewed the masters at the College of Winterhold. Most of my questions were around how to counter the various spells I would come up against that weren't pure Destruction magic. Isran, the leader of the Dawnguard, was a prodigy with Restoration magic, and he was not the most pious of men. He told me once when I asked him about his skill that he did not need the Divines to bring peace and balance, but the Divines did need him.

He explained that while many Restoration users were in fact priests, it was not an exclusive thing. Restoration wasn't about harnessing the power of the Divines, per say, as much as it was about harnessing divine power. Thus, I had only to find this divine energy and manipulate it to suit my purposes.

I hadn't the slightest clue of where to start.

I stood with a sigh. "I've got to go, Pyrrha."

She hm'd, then was silent. She didn't even look at me.

I walked out uneasy.

* * *

 _This week, on Hunter's Gate!_

 _The shot cut to a still camera of the two males on the team._

" _Ren, I need your help." Jaune 'Torga' Arc said._

 _Lie Ren sat in a lotus position, opening his eyes when he heard the voice of his leader. He smiled. "Glad to assist, Torga. What's the issue?"_

" _It's Velvet. Ever since that…" He glanced at the camera, "training accident, I've been trying to figure out a way to heal her. I know what you can do with your semblance, I was wondering if you had any tips for controlling my aura."_

 _Ren raised an eyebrow. "My semblance is not quite as easily described as one would think. Much of what I can do isn't due to my semblance, but due to my training. Shaping and utilizing your aura is a skill anyone with an aura can learn. That being said, without training I likely never would have developed my semblance to the point that I have."_

 _The ninja-themed Hunter-in-training stood. "For example, you know how to empower your weapon with aura, and to use dust to enhance it. Those are all a part of the same skill-set, one that I've explored different aspects of, but it all comes down to how you shape the flow of energy."_

" _What flow?" Torga asked, confused._

 _Ren held up his hands, one in a flat knife-hand and the other in a open-palm strike position. After a few seconds of concentrating, I could see a faint pinkish glow around each hand._

" _This one," Ren said as he held up the knife-hand, "I've altered to have less aura in a more confined area. Think of aura as a lake, and your body as the dam. What I've done is simply reduced the amount of space available for the water, or aura, to flow, and then made it flow at the same volume as before. The result…"_

 _He knelt to the ground and swiped at it with the knife-hand, letting the aura and form fall soon after. A large cloud of dust was kicked up, which soon disappeared with a shout of "_ ** _Wuld!_** "

 _Torga walked back over from the edge of the court-yard where his ability had taken him. In front of Ren was a deep furrow in the ground, as if a small and heavy plow had run through it. Torga whistled in appreciation. "Impressive."_

 _Ren snorted. "That's basic, barely puts a dent in my Aura." He held up his open palm. "Now this is the hard one." He knelt again and slammed the hand into the ground. This time, chunks of rock and earth flew up, not nearly as much dust. Where he had hit was a small crater, about 3 feet around. "I used the same principle, but in the opposite direction. This time I increased the amount of aura without changing the shape. That was only the start of the technique but I won't explain the rest."_

 _Torga nodded. "Man's gotta have his secrets. So how do you know how to change your aura flow? How can I learn?"_

 _Ren looked him in the eyes. "You truly want to learn? It will be painful and difficult."_

" _Yes." Torga stated without a hint of nervousness._

 _Ren shrugged. "Very well. First we need to deplete your aura."_

" _How do I do that?"_

 _At that, Torga was punched in the face and sent flying into one of the surrounding pillars. He groaned as he dropped to the ground. "Should have seen that coming…" He muttered, then walked back over to a grinning Ren._

* * *

My largest issue came up when I was about to start my tutoring and was halfway through calling Velvet before I thought about what I was doing. Poor girl wasn't even conscious, how the hell would she help me get ready for these mid-term tests?

The answer was, she wouldn't. I brought up my current quest.

 **[Quest Alert] Tutorial End!**

 **You've almost got the hang of your powers, Only a few things left to go before you unlock your full potential!**

 **[Main Objective] Complete Tutorial**

 **-Speak with other Gamer and choose a class [Completed]**

 **-Craft your own weapon**

 **-Pass all Mid-Term Tests**

 **-Clear Forever Fall Temple**

 **[Side Objectives]**

 **Reach Level 10 before the end of the Tutorial**

 **Earn 10,000L before the end of the Tutorial**

 **[Reward] Unlock General Menu, Skill: Dungeon Access, Skill: Dungeon Escape**

 **[Failure] ERROR(CODE:769-CODE:770)**

With a glance at my inventory I saw myself sitting pretty rich at around 150,000L, so that objective was long since passed, and my level was almost double the minimum. All I really had left to do was create a weapon and help Velvet so she can help me pass the midterm tests. Well, and because I felt partially responsible for what happened to her, but that was beside the point. I was slightly confused as to why it didn't say that the Temple had been cleared but a part of me knew that after a few more weeks of training, I would be going back to explore the oddness. That place was too... Straight, to be natural or even man-made. It reminded me of the dwemer in terms of sharp angles and long halls, but the Stone in the walls shouldn't have been able to form like that.

With a sigh I changed my course from my path to the library to head back to our dorms.

When I knocked on the door of Team RWBY, Yang was the one to open the door. "Hey, how's it going Loudmouth?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Loudmouth?"

She smirked. "Get it? Cuz you yell things? Eh?"

I snorted when I realized she was talking about my Shouts. "Not the worst thing I've been called."

She waved it off. "I'll keep working on it. What's up?"

"I need to speak with your sister."

She got a sly look on her face. "Oooh, little sister has herself an admirer."

"She said she would help me build my new weapon. I don't think of Ruby that way, or to be quite frank, I don't think of any of the students that way." I clarified, not wanting the wrong idea to come across.

Her sly look turned to one of surprise. "Hm. Well you better be careful, Ruby's nuts about guns and stuff. If she's helping you build your Hunting weapon… Don't you go hurting her."

"First, I wouldn't hurt her unless she hurt me first, in which case I would likely be unable to retaliate. Second, I can't hurt her if I don't know where she is. Third, what are you up to all alone in here?"

"Fair enough. Just remember who she's related to, and therefore who will be coming for you if I have to help her with a broken heart."

I sighed. "Fine, keep your secrets." I turned to leave.

"Whoa there Blondie, so easily distracted! She's down at the Forge, I'll walk you there. I wasn't doing anything important, just wait up a minute and I'll be right there."

I stopped walking and leaned on the wall as Yang slammed her door shut in a rush.

Not 3 seconds after that door slammed shut, the one across the hall slammed open and Nora poked her head out. "Torga! There you are!" She walked out of our room and shut the door behind her. "Why are you just standing there?"

"I'm waiting for-"

"Yang, I know, I heard the whole thing. Soooo, you're starting your Hunting weapon today."

"Yes."

"What's it going to be? A giant, grenade-launching hammer? Let me tell you, that's the best way to go."

A mental scene of me plowing through ranks of Grimm with Nora's hammer entered my mind, and just as quickly left. "I considered it." I said truthfully.

"He seems more like the guy to punch someone in the face!" Yang exclaimed as she left her room. "You coming with us?"

"Yep!" Nora confirmed. "Ren's boring and taking a nap and Pyrrha went to the CCT to talk to her family, so Torga's the only one left to entertain me."

"Praise the Divines." I muttered.

"I won't complain about a threesome!" Yang shouted unnecessarily loudly. "C'mon, we're burning daylight folks!" She set off with myself and a hammer maiden in tow.

"So, Torga, what are you gonna make? Another harpoon sword thingy?"

"I've been going over a few ideas. Whatever I decide on needs to be able to switch from lethal to non-lethal. I have no issues with killing my enemies but my team-mates tell me that I shouldn't, so I'm going to try to learn to fight without killing."

Yang was slightly hesitant at hearing the macabre answer to her question.

Nora was kind of used to me by then though. "Sooo… a sword with a net-launcher?"

My eyes went wide. "You can launch _nets?_ "

Yang snapped out of her little daze. "Well yea, why couldn't you? You can launch pretty much anything with enough power."

I nodded my agreement. Hundreds of bandits killed by being launched off a mountain proved that one for me. We arrived at an elevator and Yang hit the down button.

"Just do what I did, take a usually non-lethal weapon and add a gun to give you an extra edge against the Grimm."

"You don't have a weapon, you just have those gauntlets." I stated, pointing at the wrist-bands in question.

She laughed as we stepped through the open elevator doors. "These _are_ my weapons. Blondie." She expanded them with a grin. "Ember Celica, my Dual Ranged Shot-Gauntlets."

"Right, but that's still armor." I clarified.

"Who says it can't be both?" Nora challenged, and I was silent the rest of the ride down the elevator.

The doors opened to a miraculous room.

To one side, a long workbench with many labelled drawers underneath and spotlights above to provide a bright working area. To the other side, a long, wide hallway that had the sign 'Firing Range' above it. Against the back was a giant machine, with the masked form of Ruby Rose in front of it. The machine was lit up with red lights. Yang and Nora walked over to Ruby, while I crept closer to the machine.

It was radiating a fierce heat, one that would have had me sweating if the Gamer's Body didn't cover that already. Ruby was standing before one of three chambers. The door to hers was closed, but the one in front of me was wide open. All I saw inside was a metal pedestal in a white chamber, and an assortment of odd looking contraptions in the ceiling.

"Cool, isn't it?" I jumped as Ruby was suddenly beside me.

"Yes." I said simply. "What is it?"

"It's an omni-foundry! Not only that, it's one with three Flash Forge's!"

"Oh, right." I acknowledged, filing that away for later. "So this thing makes weapons."

"Well, kind of? You make the weapon, this thing just makes the parts you might use in making your weapon. It can make a sword or something basic with absolutely no input other than you have to be the one to set the hilt."

I looked at the machine with a new appreciation. "Really? How fast?"

Ruby shrugged. "Ten, maybe fifteen minutes? I don't think this one's ever been used for something so simple but let me see if someone left a program in here…" My eyes went wide and I want to say my jaw dropped but Gamer's mind prevented reactions like that.

With a hiss, the Flash Forge before me let out a spurt of steam that had me grasping for my sword. I briefly panicked as I couldn't find it, then wondered why nobody else was as on-edge as I was. I looked to Ruby for an explanation as she finished typing something on a keyboard.

"I'll make you a replacement sword for now, while we work on your Hunting weapon. That is, if you still want me to help you?" She looked at me hopefully.

I couldn't help but grin as I let my guard settle down. "That's half the reason I'm here."

"The other half being…?"

I glanced over the where Nora was pulling a plastic disc out of the last room, or Flash Forge I guess.

Ruby sighed. "A frisbee..? Of all the things…"

"Let them have their fun. I'm excited to see what this thing can do." I said to try and get her back on track.

"Well, the omni-foundry, this model at least, can take most solid materials and rework them into a shape that's ideal for the project you're working on. It has a supply of all the necessary ores to make steel of the purest quality, and many types of plastics. If you have any other materials, they can be placed here," She indicated a small box on the front, "where the machine will analyze the material and tell you what can be done with it. Once you have the material, you need to make a 3D model of the part you want to make, then input that into the computer which will tell the Flash Forge to make what you want it to make."

I stared at her blankly. "Right."

"Here, it's easier if you try it yourself. Did you bring any materials or should we just go with steel?" Ruby asked me.

I opened my mouth to tell her to just go with steel, but thought better of it. Instead, I opened my Inventory and with a grin, brought out a Boarbatusk Tusk.

The machine, oddly enough, didn't recognize it.

"What is that? Where did you pull it from?" Ruby asked, peeking around to see if I had a hidden pocket that she couldn't see.

"This is a Boarbatusk Tusk, an alleged crafting material. I was hoping to make a dagger or two with them but it's not a worry."

She raised an eyebrow. "But Grimm disintegrate when they die. How is that still whole?"

I held up the tusk. "I cut it off really quick? You can have this one if you want."

She snatched it out of my hands as I pulled out another one. When I accessed my inventory, I tended to do it behind my back, or hidden in a pocket. I didn't actually need to grab the specific item, per say, I just needed to reach into the box with the intention of pulling out what I wanted and that was it. This time I did it behind my back and the shocked look on Ruby's face was quite funny.

"I _know_ that wasn't there before! Where are you getting these from?!"

I shrugged. "It would seem you didn't look hard enough."

She pouted. "Boo you."

The machine whirred to life with the sound of a siren as one of the doors slid closed. I jumped, startled by the sudden noise and movement, whirling around to face the contraption.

Ruby laughed. "Don't worry, it's just starting your sword now."

"But I didn't even tell you what I wanted." I said slowly, warily eying the machine to make sure it didn't make any sudden moves.

"Let me guess, a two-handed longsword?"

I opened my mouth to protest the over-simplification, but she wasn't wrong and this was a replacement, not a final copy. My mouth shut soon after. "Good guess."

She shrugged. "I'm glad someone appreciates the classics, at least."

My eyes widened in appreciation. " _Thank you!_ Everyone and their brother has a different, unique weapon thats a bow but its also a sickle that can shoot grenades that turn into throwing knives, it's too much! All I want is a sword. That grapple was nice, but once I develop my powers a bit more I have a feeling movement will no longer be an issue so it was getting kind of tiresome." It was true. Even with the levels I'd gained in AGI I found myself moving faster than I could have Grappled. Then I layer on the Running skill and I'm plenty quick.

"Hey, I hear you. My weapon only has three combat forms, so I guess you could say I agree."

I scoffed at her. "Where I'm from, weapons didn't _change forms_. There was no Dust. There was no Aura. Just Men, and our will to survive. Well, that and our armour was much more developed than yours."

Her eyes widened. "Really? How so?"

"We didn't have any Aura to protect us, so those with the strongest armour were the most dangerous. Any fool can swing a sword, but what is a warrior to do when his tempered blade simply breaks against his opponent?"

"So you have better steel than us?"

I outright laughed. " _Steel?_ Please. Even I could make better than steel, and I was never even a blacksmith. My old sword was made of Ebony, it would never have shattered even had the Goliath we fought stood on it with one leg. My armour was of Stahlrim, a legendary metal that resembled steel and had elements of steel within it. I felt no cold while in that armour, so it was enchanted. It was also enchanted to heal what little damage I took in a much faster manner."

"Enchanted…" Ruby murmered.

"I didn't do it myself, of course."

"Of course."

"Hey, Ruby?"

"Mhm?"

"Tell me, what kind of technology can I put into armour?"

She grew a feral grin, one that I wasn't sure I was happy to see. "The real question isn't what we can put in, it's how much can we _fit_. You're saying you want full armour? What about your weapon?"

"What about your sister, where's her weapon?"

She cringed in embarrassment. "True. I didn't think about that… It may take longer and I'm sure that we'll have to go and buy our own materials but… we can probably make it climate controlled at least. I'm not too smart when it comes to armour, in case you didn't notice." She said, gesturing to her outfit.

"Well, considering you're in a dress-"

"Combat skirt." She coughed.

"-in a dress and weird raised shoes, yet still can swing that scythe around like a stick, I'd say you don't need armour if you don't want it. I, on the other hand, want it."

We talked over what she knew, which as she said was minimal, when the machine beeped.

"Oh! Sword's done!" Ruby yanked the door open and tentatively poked it, before pulling out the blade.

It was very, very basic. Straight as could be, triangle tipped, tapering off on one end to form the area where the hilt would go. She held that end out to me.

I grabbed it, mildly humbled. It would need a slight counterweight but with the right hilt, it would do for now.

"Fine craftsmanship." I admitted, which made Ruby grin.

"I may have tweaked the program a little…" She mumbled.

"So is there a toolbench where I can work this tusk?" I said, grabbing it off the table we were waiting at earlier.

 **You are in possession of multiple Crafting Materials. Would you like to Craft?**

 _Yes._ I thought.

With a glow, the tusk in my off hand disappeared in a flash of white light, and the blade was engulfed in the same light. In half a second, I was holding a bone-handled sword with an odd looking tip. It was if the spike of a battle axe were attached to the back, giving the end a fair bit of weight but enough that I could still swing it with one hand if necessary, though tiring given how my body was. Or how low my stats were right now, if I were to look at it that way.

 **Due to prior knowledge, the Skill Weapon Crafting has been added to crafting!**

 **Weapon Crafting (LVL28)**

 **You've spent time at the forge, and know how to combine two or more things to form a useful whole.**

 **New weapon acquired!**

 **Boar's Tooth (Uncommon)**

 **A greatsword stylized after a Boarbatusk.**

 **Damage:35**

 **Increase STR 1% per consecutive hit without taking damage.**

 **Chance of Push.**

I closed all the windows as I contemplated the potential.

"Hello? How did you _do_ that?"

"Uhm…" I said, having forgot Ruby Rose was still there. I glanced around quickly to see if anyone else was. "My semblance?"

"So what, you can pull Grimm stuff out of the air and turn it into weapons?"

I cringed slightly. "Kind of? Look, do you have any ammo? That's how I proved it with Pyrrha."

She pulled out a magazine in a flash and with a grin. "Always! You aren't going to use that in here, are you? Those are-"

I quickly held up a hand. "Don't tell me. Just watch."

I grabbed the ammo and said clearly. "Inventory."

The window popped up. I moved the magazine slowly into an empty square so she could see it the whole way, then showed her my hands. "Taadaa."

"Where did it go?" She asked, probably playing along but who knew at this point.

"I'm a video gamer."

She frowned slightly. "Me too, but where'd my ammo go?"

"Your…" I tapped the box of ammo, seeing that I had quite a few new things in my inventory as I did, and read off the resulting info. "Custom Loaded Dust Rounds with _Gravity_ Dust? What's Gravity?"

She seemed caught between trying not to laugh, and interested. I pulled out her ammo and gave it back, before anything more could be said, and she took it while calming down. Kind of.

"What do you mean, what's gravity?" She laughed. She laughed quite loudly. For a almost absurdly long time. I tried waiting for her to stop, but it took too long.

I grit my teeth. "It's just a number in the classroom. What is it? What kind of element, it's Dust right?"

Her laughter stopped when she realized I was being completely serious. "It's what keeps us on the ground." She said slowly. "The whole world is a big ball and because it's so big it pulls us towards it. So with Dust, I can use gravity in battle. Mostly for shooting myself really, really fast or straight up or something."

A light clicked in my brain. "How much Gravity Dust would you need to lift about two men for an hour?"

She snorted. "Please. If you use it right, each bullet could do maybe two and a half hours, minimum."

I grinned. "How much does it cost?"

"Too much for anyone to use it for armor, that's for sure."

"I've heard that before. How much?"

She sighed. "Each bullet costs around 1500L."

I looked back at my inventory, reached a hand in, and pulled out 40000L, around a third of my money. It came out in the form of 4 notes.

Ruby gaped.

I looked at it innocently, as if this wasn't enough money to pay for a year at Beacon. "That should help, right? Is that a lot?"

* * *

 **Pyrrha doesn't like Torga much right now. People may get bad "Raahhh you're ruining our favourite ship" to which I say "Bitch, it's the Dragonborn. Remember how he/she got married. No preamble, just wear a necklace and pop the question.**

 **In other news, thanks for the reviews.**

 **~HHR**


	15. Chapter 14: Mend

"Team meeting!" I called out, gathering everyone's attention.

We were lounging in our room, after a day of school. It had been three weeks since I had begun my armor, two weeks since I placed an order with the SDC for a bunch of Gravity dust, week since they told me I couldn't just 'buy that much Greater Dust at one time, and certainly not over the phone'.

Something about terrorism.

Regardless, Pyrrha ceased moving from where she was walking out the door, Ren put his book down, and Nora kept jumping on her bed. That was the best I would get out of her, so I let it go.

"Okay, so who wants to get paid from that Temple run?"

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "You didn't get your quest off of the notice boards, why are we getting paid?"

I raised both of my eyebrows in return. "You're complaining?" I asked, just to be sure.

"I'm not exactly in need of money."

"Fine, then your share will become this year's 'Team Activity Fund'." I pulled out 20,000 Lien and threw it on my bed. I withdrew two more bundles like it and handed them out to Ren and Nora. I was met with eyes wide and jaws agape.

"Torga, we can't take this…" Ren muttered as he stared at the cash in my hand. I rolled my eyes.

"Ren, you're going to take it. You are going to say 'Oh, thanks Torga, I can cover any damage Nora causes with this.'" I turned to the girl in question. "Nora, you are also going to take this money. That can buy you enough pancakes for the rest of the year."

They did not move, so I just threw the bundles at them and reached back into my inventory.

They caught the money and pocketed it. I pulled out the box that was in one of the slots, but wasn't prepared for how big or heavy it was and staggered a step before I managed to get my aura on and steady myself.

 **Forever Fall Temple Chest**

 **A chest filled with your rewards for clearing the mini-boss of Forever Fall Temple, as well as the items gained while inside the Temple proper.**

The chest was ornately decorated, enough so that I would probably be keeping it in our room for anything I didn't feel like putting in my inventory. No clue what that might be but hey, maybe it could be for team belongings like loot or It was a dark wood, inlaid with intricate brass vines. The lock was a dark metal, though with a quick check I made sure it was unlocked. No doubt I could have picked it if it was, it wouldn't be the first chest I'd broken into.

I pulled the lid open, and inside I found a few bottles, a couple of books, a few bones and Grimm items, and a large stack of money. There was a decent amount of room left inside, making me wonder why it was so big in the first place. I pulled out the money first, slowly counting it up; Math was still not too easy for me but the gains in INT from class definitely helped. It was around 10,000L, pocket change to me at this point but I tossed it in the still open inventory window regardless. I picked up the first bottle, an oblong red one, and let out a whoop as I Observed it.

 **Potion of Vigorous Healing**

 **Restores 200 HP**

The others were equally if not more useful, considering I almost never lost HP anyways.

 **Potion of Vigorous Aura**

 **Restores 200 MP**

 **Potion of Well-Being**

 **Restores 100 HP, 100 MP, Cures Minor Status effects**

 **Potion of Cure Poison**

 **Grants immunity to poison for 5 minutes and negates the effects of poison already in the bloodstream.**

I put all of those into my inventory, contemplating the potion of Well-Being. Could it help Velvet, I wondered, would her condition be classified as a minor status effect or was it worse? I grimaced as I remembered she couldn't drink it then moved on to the rest of the haul.

I took out both of the books.

 **You have obtained the Skill Book 'Double Strike'! Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[Yes][No]**

 **You have obtained the Skill Book 'Shed'! Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[Yes][No]**

I said yes for both, and while Double Strike disappeared, Shed remained in my hand.

 **ERROR!**

 **You have insufficient VIT!**

 **You cannot learn this skill!**

 **Requirements:**

 **20 VIT**

I shrugged and threw open my Status screen.

 **Name: Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **Level: 23**

 **Race: Human**

 **Title: Beacon First-Year Student**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: %26.35**

 **HP: 540**

 **AP: 632**

 **STR: 11**

 **VIT:14**

 **AGI: 14**

 **INT: 23**

 **WIS: 51**

 **LUK: 10**

 **STAT: 39**

The only significant change I would need to make is an extra six points towards VIT and that skill would be mine. Yet, just with Ren beating me up in our training, I had already grown four levels in a short amount of time… Maybe I should keep along with my plan of just training up the physical stats. Of course, the best thing would be to just get more levels, but it isn't as simple as that. Enemies to fight were numerous beyond the wall, I just had no opportunity to get there. Four levels may not have seemed like much, but it was me becoming half again as durable as I was

"Now that we've distributed the goods," I started, but Ren cut me off.

"Can I take a look at that book?" Pyrrha asked. I thought about saying no for a second.

"Sure, just be careful with it. I can't learn it yet but I might be able to later on and I wouldn't want to miss out."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not lighting it on _fire_ I just want to see if I can read it."

With a shrug I tossed it over to her.

"Now." I said, turning to Ren and Nora. "Whatever goes in this chest from now on, belongs to the team. I'll put some money in there to start and maybe leave a couple of the Grimm objects if you guys want to poke around. Rules are as follows: If it doesn't benefit the whole team, don't use the money for it. That being said, I have a decent amount of money. If you want to upgrade your weapons or armor, it will help the team so go for it. Is there winter here?"

"Yep!" Norah said mid bounce with a smile.

"Joy and wonder." I said flatly. "How bad does it get?"

Ren piped up. "In Vale we receive an average snowfall of up to a foot every couple of weeks."

Pyrrha closed the book, apparently finished with it. She threw it back and I moved my inventory window over to catch it midair, but it just phased through and hit the floor. I sighed and picked it up. There went my plan for catching peoples ammunition when they shot it at me. I placed it into my inventory just fine.

"Your winter is my summer." I chuckled. "You can get winter gear if you'd like but I'm not going to bother."

"Aura keeps you warm." Nora supplied.

"Yea, and what happens when you run out?"

Ren and Nora looked at each other. "Don't let it run out."

I snorted once before seeing that they were completely serious. "That's your plan? Hope that you never get beat in a fight and have to run?"

"That's why we're here." Ren said, somewhat angrily.

I hesitated slightly but I couldn't have this kind of behaviour. "I'll try to break it down with a bit of a reminder. I came from where?"

"A village, you said."

I nodded. "I came from a mill, just chopping wood and minding my own business. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, my entire life was flipped." I looked pointedly into Ren's eyes. He was glaring back at me with an indistinguishable blend of emotion.

"You already told us."

I nodded again. "I never told you that at first, I ran. I ran deep, deep into the woods and stayed there for a long time. I was afraid, of the dragon, which I had been raised to believe were myth, I was afraid of the Empire with their soldiers everywhere, and I was afraid of going home, of facing my empty house and dormant land, of trying to resume normality when I knew I couldn't."

"Everyone gets afraid."

I nodded. "You're right. That's a part of life. But so is facing that fear. This is all about one thing though. I had no power when I faced those fears. I had nothing but the clothes on my back and some secondhand gear yet still, I _slayed a dragon_. Was it hard? Fuck yea it was hard. But I did it with my own body, with no special power. Then, once I became the Dragonborn, it was a multiplier. I could do alright on my own, hold people off, then Shout them into Oblivion. Even my stats show the truth. When I increase my physical stats, it increases my abilities when I'm using Aura as well. Don't rely on Aura so much is what I mean."

"We can only fight the Grimm with Aura to strengthenstrengthen us." Ren shot back.

"Bullshit, I didn't get my aura unlocked until initiation."

"You almost died."

I grimaced. "Killed a Grimm first though. And survived a crash-landing."

Pyrrha softly spoke. "It's true."

"We can go to the Temple, practice on skeletons, and train. It'll be good for all of us."

"Velvet got hurt in there Torga, and she's a second year!" Pyrrha countered almost immediately, breaking my concentration with the completely uncompetitive staring match I was having with the ninja.

"She didn't get hurt because of that place. She got hurt because she tried to be me, and that doesn't work so well when you aren't me." I retorted. "Up until then, we had barely been touched. I know that the only reason my aura was low was because I was using skills against the Taijitu."

My team looked slightly apprehensive, so I dropped the bait as I stood. "I'm going, I just want to know who's coming with me."

Ren sighed as he looked away. "Are you leaving right now?"

I glanced at my scroll. "We should probably leave soon if we want to fly instead of walk."

Pyrrha strode over in front of the door. "No."

I raised an eyebrow and glanced over. "Excuse me?"

She gave a meaningful glance at the other set of partners on our team, and they promptly vanished out the window. "Hey, that was going to be my thing!" I shouted after them.

"Sit." When I opened my mouth to protest that I was perfectly fine standing, I thought better of it and instead sat on my bed.

"What seems to be the issue?"

"I know what you're doing. It's deplorable and disgusting and if you knew anything about people you wouldn't have even tried that tactic with those two." She fired. "Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?!" I drew back slightly. Pyrrha wasn't the type to get angry easily.

"I-"

"Sh. You know how old they were, when their village was attacked and razed to the ground by the Grimm? They were 8 and 9. The only survivors of that tragedy. They have abandonment issues, Torga! Nora almost never leaves Ren's side, and you probably can't tell but when she does, Ren is afraid until she returns. Then you go dangle the knowledge of 'Oh, I'm going off to a dangerous place on my own. You don't have to come, but I could die if you don't'. What made you think they would ever say no?!"

"I never once thought that they would say no." I said slowly. "I thought you might, but I never doubted them."

She flinched back. "Truly, you think I would leave you to go alone?" At my silence, she whirled about and pulled the door open, but for once, I was fast enough. I stood in the doorway with arms crossed and while she could have easily engaged and defeated me, she stopped.

"Sit with me. Let's talk this over." She still looked like she was deciding between bolting or not. After a couple of seconds her hand left the door and her shoulders slumped slightly as she made her way to her bed and I to mine, after closing the door of course.

"I do think you would leave me to go, but not alone. You were there with us, you know Nora could have done that by herself if it really came down to it. If Ren and Nora were with me, you would still let me go, just as you're planning on doing."

"I wasn't going to do anything of the sort." She retorted.

"Oh?" I inquired. "You would come along?"

"I would inform Ozpin that you're leaving without a second-year chaperone or a teacher."

My eyes narrowed. "You would get between a man and his training?"

Her eyes narrowed back. "You would get between a team and their cohesion?"

"How is this ruining team cohesion? We're going on an expedition to fight Grimm and undead abominations. Is that not literally in the job description?"

"I won't have my friends hurt because you want to get stronger!"

I growled angrily. "I won't have my team hurt because I wasn't strong enough! I have the opportunity to become so powerful that literally nothing could stand before me. I want to get that power, destroy the Grimm and help this world usher in an era of balance, if not peace, then go home. That's it."

She paused. "... We should really sit as a team and have this talk."

"Yea, which is why I'd called a team meeting, then you went and sent the others away. That's how rumors start, Pyrrha."

"I didn't send them away."

"Sure. So are you going to come along or not?"

She huffed and stood. "I'm going to see Ozpin. If you can get out of Beacon before I get there, you'll be home free."

I sighed. "Only until I get back. Stop acting like we're all going to die. Besides, I meant to say 'Are you coming along to go and talk to Ozpin about getting a teacher to come with us for safety'."

"That's not the point!"

"Then what in Oblivion is your problem with me!" I snapped, shouting angrily. "Ever since we fought the White Fang in that weapon store, your relationship with me has only deteriorated. Even on days when we barely talk! No matter what I do, you hate me more and more with every passing day. Why?!"

"You can see things like that..?"

"You knew I could see things like that! I mean, I don't look at it too much because it feels so weird and impersonal. You, however, I actually cared that it was falling, for the first little bit anyways. Now it just seems inevitable. So, answer my question. What is the source of your resentment?"

She grit her teeth and looked at me with anger in her eyes. "I still remember the man who used to be in that body. Everyone else seems to have forgotten, and don't even ask me why your parents haven't been told that their son doesn't exist anymore, but I remember Jaune. Somebody has to." She was looking down.

My breathing slowed as my anger dissipated into uncomfortable guilt. "Pyrrha…"

She looked up and her eyes were slightly wet. "What happened to him?"

"If he made it into Beacon, I'm sure he could survive Skyrim. Especially if he ended up in my armor, he wouldn't even feel a cold breeze." I didn't add that Paarthurnax would probably decimate him but she didn't need to know that his likely mode of death was being cooked.

"You really think so..?"

I thought about that status of my body when I first got here, and of my body when I had left. The sheer difference in size, weight, muscle strength and endurance, hell, he would have to learn how to walk in armor, down from the Throat of the World with the Thu'um which would kill him to use, and successfully impersonate me, with all of my accomplishments, adventures, skills, and duties. Assuming he even made it back to Whiterun, which is a laughable notion at best.

"Yes." I lied. "He'll probably get this body back when I leave. Lucky him, I'm taking great care of it."

She let out a choked laugh and leapt across the space between our beds and gave me a crushing hug. "I'm so sorry."

Before I even thought about it, my arms wrapped themselves around her tense body. We spent a brief moment like that, in silence, before she pulled back. I smoothed my shirt as she awkwardly ran a finger under her eyes, clearing makeup or something like that.

I stood and offered my hand out to help her up. With a smile that I could honestly say made my day, she took it and we opened the door, still hand in hand, to see the entirety of Team RWBY along with Ren and Nora. "Traitors…" I muttered darkly. Pyrrha tried to yank her hand out of mine but I wouldn't let her run away and let me face this alone, even though it was the very first thing I contemplated doing to her when I saw Yang's dark look.

"So… I guess you guys heard about the temple, eh..?" I said, cringing as I realized we would now probably have to walk if everyone was coming. We would all fit in the Bullhead, sure, but we weren't supposed to take other first-year teams and if we were going to Ozpin then we had to go by the book.

"It's called a church, Heartbreaker. Who the hell gets married at 17?" Yang shot back.

"You'd better have a good explanation!" Weiss nagged.

Pyrrha used her semblance to open my glove and retrieve her hand. "It is not what it looks like." She muttered as a blush crept across her face.

I frowned at her. "It sure is. I don't know what you're talking about."

"W-What?"

"Remember what I said about my sister, Mr. Arc." Yang said darkly as she cracked her knuckles.

"Wait wait wait!" I held up my hands. "What does this look like? I have to say I am honestly so very confused."

Nora answered around a mouthful of… something. "Looksh like you and Pywa are a couple."

I raised an eyebrow. "Of course. What else do you call a twosome?"

Nora spluttered and Ren thumped her on the back.

"Torga, stop it!" Pyrrha exclaimed, blush now a deep red.

"Stop what?!"

"Making them think we're together!"

"Aren't we? I thought we were partners, Pyrrha, that really hurts. After all of our talks and bonding."

"Is Pyrrha your girlfriend?" Ruby said in a monotone voice with a monotone face that I couldn't help but find somewhat adorable.

"What's that mean? She's a girl, and she's my- wait, are we friends again?" Pyrrha only nodded, still blushing up a storm. "Okay yes, she's a girl and she's my friend."

Ruby facepalmed as Blake whispered something in her ear. The cat-faunus went back to watching the situation unfold while Ruby tried again.

"Do you see Pyrrha as a romantic partner?"

"What does that mean?"

"Weren't you married?" Ren casually threw out there.

"Yes, I- Oh." I took a second glance at Pyrrha. Long, slender legs, vibrant red hair, piercing green eyes. Hips were a little bit narrow and shoulders were slim, but I knew for a fact that she could fight and defend herself.

"I see Pyrrha as a partner, not as a potential marriage candidate." Yet. She could grow up to become quite the woman.

"Partner as in…." Yang kept going, though a punch to the arm from Ruby made her stop.

"Temple. You were talking about a temple." Ruby stated as if that was that. Which to be fair, it was.

"No I wasn't."

"We're going to the Forever Fall Temple to go and slay some baddies." Nora said, having finally cleared her throat of whatever it was she was eating.

"What kind of baddies?" I was interrupted from answering Yang's question by a ringing from my scroll. I moved back into my room and slid the door shut quietly, though when I whirled around Pyrrha was in the room with me. Ozpin, I mouthed as I picked up the call.

"Good afternoon, Sir."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Arc. I trust you know the way to my office?"

"I do."

"Then please bring yourself and Ms. Nikos up here at your earliest convenience. Don't worry about your pilot, I've taken care of that. See you soon, Mr. Arc."

My face fell as my scroll signalled the end of the call. "Looks like we got called to the principal's office."

She stared flatly at me. "Torga, I saw you check me out in the hall. Please, don't do that in public again."

"Sure, sorry. Hey, you aren't interested in me, are you?"

Her eyes went wide. "So direct!"

I shrugged. "Well, yea. Life is short, brutal, and dangerous in Skyrim. There, if you want someone, you simply talk to them while wearing an Amulet of Mara. Then, if they think you're worth marrying, you go get married the next day. Most of getting to know the person comes after the ceremony."

"Then how do you know if you love someone? What if it's the wrong person?"

"We have no time or energy to waste searching for the right person. Either you can put forth the effort and learn to love your partner, or the Dark Brotherhood usually ends up getting called." I said with a snarl. "I put in effort. Love doesn't come naturally, what comes naturally is mating instinct. Sex comes naturally. Love is un-natural." She appeared to contemplate this.

"Regardless," I interrupted before she could go getting any ideas about us. I don't care what body I'm in, fucking a 17-year-old girl is beneath me. "We should head up to Ozpin's."

She snapped out of her thoughts. "They're all going to follow us, you know that, right?"

I thought for a brief moment. "Nope. Hold on."

"Hold on to wh- TORGA!"

With that, I defenestrated myself.

 **Featherweight leveled up!**

* * *

INTERLUDE I

A swirling orb of energy hung in the middle of a perfect hemisphere of a cave. The light bounced out in odd ways, swirling around the room at a visible speed before eventually getting sucked back in.

A man in a brown cloak stood at the edge of the room. There was no door, there were no windows, there was not even a hole for air to circulate. Yet this man was there.

"How long, I wonder?"

A swirling red and black portal opened up on the opposite side of the room, and the man promptly vanished as a black haired woman strode through said portal. The click of her heels on the hard stone floor of the cave was muted.

"You can come out, Jak. I saw you vanish."

"Long time no see, Raven." Jak said as he popped back into existence behind her, making the woman flinch.

"Not long enough."

"I get that a lot. No clue why, I'm such a charmer."

"Give it a rest, we have business to discuss."

Jak gestured to the swirling orb of shifting colours. "It's a bit more lively than last month, that's for sure. But what does that mean, I wonder…"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Raven stated.

"On the contrary, my dark and dreary friend. This here is Aura, and have you ever known Aura to destroy without a guiding hand?"

"No. But who says there isn't one?"

Jak pulled out his giant book, and began flipping through the pages. Eventually he stopped flipping, read a little bit, then slammed the book shut. As soon as the covers clapped together, the book vanished. "I do."

"We can't just leave this down here. Someone could come and twist it to their uses."

Jak laughed. "I already tried that. You think some crook will do better with Aura manipulation than me?"

"It isn't a crook I'm worried about." Raven pulled out her scroll. "Damn, no service."

Jak laughed again. "Really? We don't have service 3 miles underground? Do explain why."

Raven snarled, opening a portal above her and Jak's heads. "When you don't have something…"

"You take it." Jak finished, right as his own scroll chimed.

"Lay low, for now. We'll need you as a surprise."

"What, is your dearest brother out of town?"

Raven scoffed and jumped through the overhead portal, with it snapping shut behind her.

"Oh dear, this really isn't good…"

On his scroll, three words flashed beneath an image he knew all too well.

QUEEN HAS PAWNS

* * *

 **A short one but as they say**

 **the plot thickens.**

 **~HHR**


	16. Chapter 15: Beautiful View, Nice Things

"So what do you think Professor Ozpin wants us for?" Pyrrha asked me as we rode up the slowest lift in Vale. I've been on a couple out in the actual city, and they were remarkably smooth and quick. Made me feel like he did it on purpose just to let anticipation get to whoever was coming to see him. Of course, it doesn't work so well as the elite mercenary company that was usually training around my meadhall, Jorrvaskr. Which also meant it didn't really work on me.

"I hope he found something to help Velvet. She seems to be recovering slowly, but I still need to find a healing skill. Or it could be that he's found out about our little training trip before we even got to tell him." I offered.

"He does seem to know everything." She admitted.

"Right?"

There was silence for a brief moment. I held up 3 fingers into the sky until Pyrrha gave me a look, then put them down. She raised an eyebrow and I just held a finger to my lips. With a ding, the lift shook to a halt and the doors slid open.

I strode out confidently while Pyrrha followed behind. We had clearly interrupted a conversation. In front of us was our film crew, remarkably. They had been suspiciously absent following the incident at the docks. To be fair, we had also been suspiciously absent but they should have known we'd come back to the school.

Ozpin sat behind his desk, as usual. Also present was a man I hadn't seen before, leaned over Ozpin's desk. He was dark of hair, pale of skin, and dressed in an odd white uniform. Then again, all of these clothes were still odd to me.

I became briefly aware of a tag scratching the back of my neck. I scratched the itch and coughed "Observe" into my raised arm.

 **James Ironwood**

 **LVL ?**

 **The Might of Atlas**

"What was that?" Ozpin grinned at me.

"Nothing, Professor, just clearing my throat beforehand." I replied innocently.

The man in white, James, turned to me. "So, you're the one Oz was talking about. Pretty scrawny."

"I know, right? I hope you stick around to see me next week." I replied straightly. He didn't react to my words in the slightest, or if he did I couldn't spot it.

He turned back to Ozpin. "Boot the news, we've got important things to talk about."

"Actually, we need to get something out of the way first. Mr. Arc, what happened at the docks was not acceptable. I understand your current weapon has broken. Until I deem you ready, you're forbidden from carrying a weapon in the city."

"Professor, I'm going to tell you right now that isn't going to work." I said to an utterly silent room.

"And why is that?" James asked, looking slightly annoyed. I'm glad he asked, because I had been waiting for someone to.

I reached behind my back and pulled out Boar's Tooth. I threw it on the ground in front of them,where it clattered to a halt.

Pyrrha huffed and picked up the sword, placing it on Ozpin's desk with a slight amount of disgust. It was a savage looking weapon, to be fair. To the Headmasters credit, he didn't look at it.

Ironwood gave it a glance over. "So where exactly where you keeping that?"

I grinned slightly, this was sure to be fun. "Right here." I pulled another one out and tossed it on the floor. His eyes narrowed slightly. He took a step before I held a hand up. "I'll show you again, real slow." I opened up the inventory fully this time, off to my left. Reaching over with my right hand, I grabbed yet another sword from the stack. The number dropped down to 5.

This one I passed to him directly. He took the blade, running a gloved hand down the edge. "Well-made. You did these yourself?"

"Yes."

He made a humming sound then placed the sword he was holding next to the one on Ozpin's desk. "These are completely identical. Don't lie to me this time: did you make these yourself?"

"Yes, I did."

Ironwood glanced subtly at Ozpin, who nodded. "Impressive."

Ozpin cleared his throat. "The matter of your punishment is still up for debate, Mr. Arc, but it seems we'll need to re-evaluate. Regardless, you will have to discuss something with your producers for what to show the entirety of the city in the meantime."

I didn't look at them, not even a glance. "We can figure it out later."

"We really shou-" Diana cut in, but Ironwood was all over it.

"Later. Now is your time to leave."

The reporter inhaled but a hand on the shoulder from the cameraman stopped whatever she was going to say. The two shared a look then walked to the lift with much muttering between them. Soon, the doors slid shut behind them.

"Mr. Arc," Ozpin said heavily, making me look over to see him giving me a curious look. I got the odd feeling that he was shaking his head but he was clearly completely still. "Please collect your swords."

"Oh, am I allowed to keep them then?" I said sarcastically, gathering them up and depositing them into my inventory regardless.

He ignored my question. "This is General James Ironwood, the General-Headmaster of the combat school in Atlas."

I did nothing like bringing myself to attention, but gave him a quick "General-Headmaster." and a curt nod.

"My students would add a sir to that." He said with a questioning eyebrow.

"That's nice." I replied.

Pyrrha gasped and punched my shoulder. "Mind your manners! I'm sorry General-Headmaster sir, he's not a very bright one."

He tightened his jaw and didn't comment. "Ozpin tells me you're not quite what you seem."

I shrugged while briefly wondering how I was going to get back at Pyrrha for that one. "Who is around here?"

Ironwood let out a chuckle. "Good point. He told me you're interested in researching souls, to be more specific."

"Not really." I replied. "I know enough about souls as it is. I just need to know if you have a way to collect a soul, or return it. Is there anything you have that can… restore…" My eyes widened and I turned and ran from what was most likely the two most important people I'd met here so far, and Pyrrha. I hastily hit the elevator button over and over, willing the doors to just open.

"It's probably not even halfway down by now, what's got you in a rush?" Pyrrha had gotten back to me. I glanced around, fighting the urge to look behind me. I just knew I would see ridiculing glares.

"Velvet. I think I figured something out." Her eyes opened wide.

Eventually I spotted a window, thinking only once about the height before Sprinting at my full speed towards it.

"Sorry!" I yelled, as I made my biggest window escape yet, using both Power Strike and Double Strike in one punch that I had the full weight of my Aura behind.

 **Double Strike (LVL1) Cost:25 AP**

 **Strike once with the power of two blows. Normal AP costs for skills used in this manner still apply.**

 **Damage: Variable.**

 **Power Strike (LVL48) Cost:1 AP**

 **By focusing all of your strength into a single blow, you can strike with more power! The attack takes time to prepare so use it carefully!**

 **Charge Time: 1.25 seconds**

 **192% Increased Damage**

 **8% decrease in attack speed.**

I figured out a while ago that I could still move during the charge time for Power Strike, just not use the limb I wanted to use for anything other than the charge time. I could throw a combo, for instance, though the charge time is too long to be used with fists. I could parry with my right hand while I charged a Power Strike punch in my left, though. In this instance, however, I punched Ozpins window with 24 points of strength after Aura, nearly tripled by Power Strike, and then doubled again by Double Strike. The window shattered into a mist of glass shrapnel and I was briefly amazed before I found myself caught by the clutches of gravity.

I only made it about a body length from the window before something caught me and yanked me back inside. I fell to the floor and slid to the opposite wall, hitting it with a bump. My HP took a very minor hit, filling up again in just a moment. My AP was still nearly full and I knew that it would be in just a few moments. "What was that for?"

"For jumping out of the _Headmaster's window_! What possessed you to do that?"

I stood up and brushed myself off. "I'm going to go jump out of the window again. You aren't going to stop me." She opened her mouth to protest but I had been working on making this body at least act similar to my own.

It's actually one of the last things I had thought about when this had happened but when I had looked into a mirror and attempted to scowl, it had looked utterly ridiculous. I'd spent a little time making it look at least sort of correct, and I fixed Pyrrha with one of these glares I had so practiced.

She caught what she was going to say and clenched her jaw.

"Might I ask why you're so insistent on defenestrating yourself?" Ozpin asked as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Ironwood just had his head in his hands.

I took a deep breath and explained myself quickly. "I got a hold of a potion from where I'm from and there if we use special tools we can directly inject it into someone's body." Before they could react, I continued. "I'm gonna go find a healer with said tools, use said potion, and fix my tutor so I don't fail the coming midterms."

With that said, I made for the window, getting held once more. I grit my teeth, turning my head over my shoulder to see Pyrrha with her arm outstretched. She was holding back a grin.

"Woman, you had better let me go in the next three seconds or-"

The hold on me, or rather on my metal armor, broke. "Torga, we don't have to find a doctor."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Ironwood muttered just loud enough to hear.

Ozpin coughed. "We have state-of-the-art medical equipment here at Beacon. If you have the medicine that can cure your classmate, then I will be sure it gets to our medical staff and given to Velvet properly. How much did you say was used?"

I grimaced. "One time I got stabbed in the gut while changing into new armor. Luckily I was already near a temple and I could get help. Took me about 3 days to recover." I glanced over at the window. "I really am sorry about breaking your window. Maybe you should make them able to open in case someone cannot wait to leave."

"The potion?"

"Oh, right." I pulled out both the AP potion and the Potion of Well-Being. "The blue one is simply for restoring Aura. This one can restore your aura, heal minor wounds, and would cure minor ailments like a cough or something, I think. If you were to give either of these to Velvet I think it would work, but the problem is they're usually drank."

Ironwood grabbed the blue potion. "You say this can restore Aura?"

I tossed the other one to Pyrrha, who put it on Ozpin's desk. "Sure, not a problem. Want me to prove it?"

He tossed the AP potion back. "Only if you've got two. My scientists need to have a look at that. You could save hundreds… no millions of lives if we could make these."

My eyes widened. "Really? You guys never thought to just start throwing plants together, take a small dose of the result and see what happens?" I was met with blank looks. "Huh. Well, I got them from the Forever Fall Temple. We were going back soon so I'll bring you the next one, but it may take about an hour or two."

Now Ozpin's eyes narrowed. "This Aura-Restoring Potion that you got at Forever Fall Temple? Who made it?"

"My people." I replied instantly. "The design is as clear as day, the colour is spot on. Just give me a punch, General. I'll show you my Aura, you can see how low it is, I'll drink the potion, you can see it rise."

"Then how did it get here?" Ozpin asked.

"Most likely?" I said, thinking. "Same way I did. I mean, you are more than welcome to come with us to the temple. We actually were about to come ask for a chaperone."

"Irony at it's best. We were going to get you to take us there. Along with one more."

With a loud clank, a man in heavy armor came in through the window I had already broken. The armor was similar in appearance to Dwemer armor, though it was much larger than any man I had seen. It was as if a Centurion had mated with a woman and produced a child, but for the helmet. The helmet was a single horizontal slit. The most interesting thing was the fire it was shooting out its boots towards the ground. With a hiss, the fire cut off and the man in armor fell to the ground landing neatly. "Observe." I muttered.

 **Arthur Polendina**

 **LVL?**

 **The Machinist of Light**

I just sighed this time. It was clear that Observe wouldn't do much against people that were stronger than me. At least by _this_ much.

The man in the armor removed the helmet in a way I didn't quite catch. It appeared to slide down his back and disappear.

"It would seem that someone beat me to smashing this window."

I grinned. "That would be me. Nice armor, sir." I didn't say a word about the gigantic sword on his back. I simply flicked my eyes to it and gave the most minor of nods.

He grinned. "I like this man! Who invited him?"

Ironwood muttered something again, while Ozpin raised his hand. "Pleasure to see you again, Mr. Polendina."

"Aha! It's Doctor now, _Professor_. I've been up to some pretty cool stuff lately. James really knows how to get the good times rolling."

"How many times must I say, it's _Gener-_ "

"Yea, yea." He waved it off but when I saw Ironwood grin I knew there was no love lost between the two. "Anyways, you're mini-Jak, eh? I can kind of see it. I hear we're going dungeon diving?"

"Dungeon Di- Nevermind. I get it now." I said. "Apparently we are. So what, you were another mentor?"

"Ha! The day the 'Dungeonmaster' admits to having someone teach him something he didn't already know is the day I go to Hell and fight whoever's down there that has my hat. Then I will eat it." I briefly wondered whether he was talking about his hat or his enemy before he continued. "Anyways, what are you waiting for? Let's go! I'm as ready as ever."

"We still have to get there. Speaking of which, where's my pilot?"

Ironwood stood. "I'm pilot."

Arthur also raised a hand. "Actually, I went to the Vale Airport and got every certification they could offer. I could pilot a Bullhead easy. Shouldn't have to though, Jak just throws his hand up and we're in dungeons just like that…."

" _Every-_ " Ironwood started before cutting himself off and taking a deep breath. "I was going to save your pilot certificates for your next _promotion._ Delayed grati-"

I tuned him out as Arthur nudged me. I leaned over as he whispered in my ear while still pretending to pay attention to Ironwood. Pyrrha was looking crossly at me but I gave her a 'what can I do at this point?' look. I don't think she liked it.

"So," Arthur whispered. "Why were you leaving?"

"Give a potion to a friend. Aura issues." I replied, trying to keep it short.

"Cool. If I block magnet girl, how would you feel about going to the Bullhead right now and heading to the Temple?"

I nodded as Ironwood continued on about duty and discipline. I held up a hand as he took a breath.

"Bye."

Something covered my eyes, there was a loud bang, and then suddenly I was falling alongside Arthur Polendina and I let out a genuine laugh as deja vu struck.

 **REP with Ozpin +200!**

 **REP with Pyrrha +100!**

I wondered why Pyrrha could possibly have approved of that before deciding it didn't matter. I managed to activate Featherfall, but all that caused me to do was hit the ground and bounce back up again. I hit hard, very hard, draining about half my AP. I groaned as the skill deactivated, and I fell to the ground once more to Arthur's laughter.

"Oh drink a potion and get over it. How have you made it this far without being able to land?"

I picked myself up, not hurting anymore at all. My AP was very slowly regenerating. "I'll meditate on the Bullhead, it will be back in no time.

 **Meditation (LVL9) Cost: 0 AP**

 **Remove yourself from the world around you and embrace nothingness.**

 **+9 AP per second**

 **If AP is full, +1HP per second**

Meditation hadn't levelled up as much as my other skills had, though with Power Strike being so cheap I had plenty of opportunities to practice with it. I held out hope that the charge time would eventually drop enough to enhance every strike with it.

That was apparently that and we made our way through the school unaccosted.

"So what level are you anyways?" He asked.

""23" I replied curtly, and he stumbled briefly.

He muttered something to himself that I didn't hear, then somehow managed to snap his armored gauntlets. "You're running off of a different system, aren't you?"

"I am, something called a video game."

"The way you're speaking sounds like you don't even know of the glorious gaming kingdom." I glanced over to see him giving me a stern look. "Please tell me that this is not the case."

"What?"

He stopped and stared me right in the eye. I stopped as well, as he was huge and going to be a great partner against that Taijitu. "We're going to go clear this dungeon, then we're going to go take your half of the loot money and buy you the greatest gaming device ever devised. Then, we'll blow what's left on games. After all of that, I will hook it up, leave, and come back a month later to see how you do. How does that sound?"

I sighed. "I don't need to play games right now, that would be a waste of my time. I can get stronger by killing Grimm. I get even stronger by killing even stronger Grimm. I should probably be out killing Grimm right now, not here." By here, I referred to the hangar bay, which was conspicuously empty save for Richard's Bullhead, and the man himself standing by the starboard door.

"We'll get to that. You do need to play games at least once though." He said, and yet again that was that.

"Ozpin said he would be here too. What's the deal, kid?" The pilot asked, coming forward from the vehicle to meet us.

The door burst open and Pyrrha strode through, though not without a pale sheen of sweat. I was thoroughly impressed, either she jumped herself or did something to Ozpin's elevator to make it faster because there was no way she should have made it on time. "Time to go." she said, not making eye contact and climbing into the Bullhead.

"What she said." I replied, climbing in myself.

As Richard Mavis shrugged and got into the Bullhead, Arthur Polendina spoke.

"I'm flying."

At that, Mavis barked a laugh and slid into the pilot's chair, firing up the engines. "Nobody touches my bird but me, old timer!"

The gigantic armored man waved us goodbye. "I'll follow you there!"

He did _something_ and his armor started shooting fire again. He took off like a bullet and tore through the tiny gap in the slowly opening hangar doors.

Richard let out a chuckle and rose into the air. "Challenge accepted."

We hung in the air for a brief second before again, _something_ happened and I was flung into the back of the cabin. The doors slid shut as the sound of rushing air grew louder, eventually cutting off and leaving us with only the whining of the engines. I got back to my feet and made for a chair. Pyrrha took the one opposite.

"So." I said, catching her eye. "You came."

She hesitated for the briefest of moments before nodding. "I did."

"May I ask why?"

"You should be asking yourself why I wouldn't. You're the team leader. We should have waited for the rest of our team but circumstances changed and here we are. If you're going to that place again, I won't let you do it without me at your back."

I opened my mouth to reply that I would have been fine, but that didn't seem like the right thing to say. "I appreciate the sentiment. In that case, thanks. Ozpin let you go?"

She coughed. "Something like that."

"But why?"

"Who knows? It's Ozpin."

For the third time, that was that.

We made good time to the temple. I meditated most of the way, though had to reactivate the skill once or twice as Richard pulled a maneuver. He was chasing after Polendina. Not quite close enough, as Arthur touched down before us.

As the plane lowered closer to the ground and Pyrrha and I jumped out, he rocked forward from the pole he was leaning on and strode over.

"Took you long enough. Traffic?" he joked.

"So what is our plan?" Pyrrha asked. She had a confident look on her face.

"Well first, before we go in…"

I brought up the Party Options menu, and proceed to add Pyrrha. Arthur flinched slightly when I said his name. "Fancy, I get to see it too." He proceeded to poke the yes button.

"So what, we share XP and loot?"

I shook my head. "Apparently I unlock party options once I clear the tutorial and pass the Midterms."

Arthur waved his hand. "I'll take care of your mid-terms. What else do you have to do?"

"Clear this Temple and… what was it… oh right, talk to the other gamer and decide on my class."

"And?"

"Well we're about to do the first and… I can be whatever I want, why limit myself to a class?"

"Then say 'I choose _ as my class." and add in a random name or something." He said as he activated his helmet. It slid over his head so fast I could barely see it. The voice that came out after was garbled and warped, but amplified. "Then we can get this party started."

I thought for only a second before following Arthur into the entrance, Pyrrha trailing close behind.

"I choose Dragonborn as my class."

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked your first class!**

 **Classes are available once certain requirements have been met. This may involve killing a certain amount of enemies, befriending or becoming a person of influence, or simply stumbling upon a Title in everyday life. Titles can be evolved to Classes once they have been equipped for enough time.**

 **Only 10 Classes may be equipped.**

 **Graduate to 1st Class Dragonborn success!**

 **Dragonborn (Class 1)**

 **You are more than just a fledgling dragon-souled mortal. You have embraced the immortality and divine power of dragonhood, taking it into yourself to increase your potential.**

 **HP +50 per level**

 **HP Regen +0.1/second/level**

 **AP +10 per level**

 **All STATS +10%**

 **Shouts +100 intensity**

I felt a brief shudder as the feeling of chills down my back briefly made me spasm, then I was fine. My HP and AP took a major hit, bringing the red bar down to about a third. My AP went down to about three quarters then started slowly regenerating but my health regen suddenly spiked. It was charging more than twice as fast as it had been before!

I smiled as we walked through the door. Against skeletons, and mostly unarmed ones at that? I felt like nothing could even hurt me fast enough to be a problem. I held my hand out. "Wait."

"What is it?"

"Status" I replied, bringing up my page and making a predetermined choice on where to spend my points. When I had finished, I looked at my status page in contemplation.

"Placing points?"

I nodded. "Can you see the screen?"

He shook his head. "Nothing since the invite. What's your plan?"

I looked over my points. My new Class seemed to be leaning in the same direction I was.

"I was thinking of bringing my Vitality up. I did that with Wisdom at the start…"

Arthur clapped me on the shoulder. "Do you mind a little shock?"

"What for?"

He grinned. "Jakkins thanked me. You will too." He stabbed a syringe in my arm, that brought my HP to the top instantly. I barely felt it.

I felt what he did next, though.

He gripped my unarmored lower forearm and released lightning into me. I blacked out nearly instantly.

I awoke to a slew of status messages.

 **Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up! Physical Endurance has levelled up!**

 **Due to incredibly intensive physical regeneration training, you have gained +15 VIT!**

 **Due to incredibly intensive physical regeneration training, you have lost -2 INT!**

 **You have gained the skill Electricity Resistance!**

I shook my head, quickly realizing I was on the ground. Off to my left, Pyrrha was attempting to stab the Oblivion out of Arthur while he kept pointing towards me and staying just out of her reach despite her use of her Semblance.

I let that continue as I adjusted my point spending to account for my newfound VIT.

 **Status**

 **Name: Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **Level: 23**

 **Race: Human**

 **Class: Dragonborn I**

 **Title: Beacon Student (First Year)**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: 61.5%**

 **HP: 2740**

 **AP: 862**

 **STR: 25**

 **VIT: 50**

 **AGI: 14**

 **INT: 25**

 **WIS: 51**

 **LUK: 10**

 **SP:2**

 **Due to raising your VIT to 50, you have gained the skill Healing Factor!**

 **Due to raising your VIT to 50, you have gained the skill Conversion!**

 **Healing Factor (Passive) LVL:1**

 **You have been blessed with a body that shows a propensity towards life. HP is regenerated 25% faster in combat, and 100% faster outside of it.**

 **Conversion (Active) LVL:1**

 **You have learned how to better utilise your Aura to affect your body. Convert 10 AP into 5 HP every second.**

I did some quick calculations in my head, which I could only do now courtesy of my INT, and made a startling realization. With these boosts, I could regenerate the entirety of my health, in combat, in around 15 minutes. As it was now, I was regenerating around 4 or 5 HP per second.

In essence, it was as if I was constantly having a Healing Hands spell cast on me… by myself, and with no concentration. I decided to save the Shout Points, as tempting as it was to spend them especially if all of my Shouts now had "+100% Intensity".

I flagged down my companions, mind on my power. Pyrrha saw me up and mobile again and ceased her assault, rushing over to me.

"Torga! Are you alright? This man did something to you and you collapsed, I thought…"

I held up a finger. "I'm fine. Fantastic, actually. I just got a lot more powerful, and I mean a _lot_. I can heal from near death in about 10 minutes."

Arthur finished sauntering his way over as if Pyrrha hadn't just assaulted him. "Impressive. Jakkins can die three times before he doesn't come back. That's per fight. Oh, and every time he comes back even faster and with more stupid spells. Get on our level."

I huffed, and we made our way into the dungeon. Our 'chaperone' didn't do much fighting, leaving the remarkably easy skeletons to us. I used my skills, but only to level them up, not because they were necessary. Even using my Shouts would be a waste of effort. Besides, Pyrrha and I were getting better at fighting as a pair.

As we were cutting through the skeletons on the sixth floor, I sighed mid-cut. "I'm barely getting any experience from this. It's barely worth using skills on these anymore."

"Show some humility." Pyrrha said, shooting another three to pieces. "Civilians wouldn't have such an easy time of this."

I laughed as we got into the next room and I destroyed the spawn-point with a Power Strike. "Really? I'd say about half or more of Skyrim could handle this if they had a partner."

Arthur walked through the hallway as the next set of stairs appeared in the corner. "Where's Skyrim?"

I glanced at Pyrrha. "It's my birthplace. Long way from here. Regardless, if you gave every civilian a gun then fighting the Grimm wouldn't even be an issue. Not to mention…"

"Not to mention what?" She asked.

"How did you unlock my Aura? Better yet, why aren't the Hunter's unlocking every Aura that they can to help fight the Grimm?"

Arthur slid his helmet back and took a seat on a solid light chair. "Asking the tough questions quick, kid. Should probably keep those to yourself for a bit, at least until you're tougher."

"I'll just have to ask the right people." I said flatly. "Aren't I doing that now?" I pointedly walked over and picked up Boar's Tooth.

"You are." He didn't react.

"Well? Why can't civilians have Aura and protect themselves?"

"They can. When they unlock it, they usually go to a combat school straight away. Some Hunters are generational, like myself."

I put Boar's Tooth on the magnetic mount of my armor, then crossed my arms. "Why aren't there any adults in the combat schools then?"

Pyrrha cut in at this point. "Kids are much more likely to come across something they truly believe is a life or death situation."

"But you unlocked mine. Here I am, fighting and killing Grimm." I pointed out. "Sure it's a bit of a special case but it could be a lot more common if every Hunter unlocked just one person's Aura once a month or year or whatever."

Arthur snorted as he stood, the chair fading as he did so. "How long do you think it would take for a criminal to gain power over almost every civilian?"

"Then do it more often so everyone can be even." I replied. "You'd have more dangerous criminals, but you would also have an entire population able to stand up to them."

"You have fun with that." He said as he headed for the stairs. "Don't blame me when the fighting tears down the city."

We didn't talk much after that until the Respite.

We were sitting around the bonfire, with Arthur having just mentioned the oddity of the situation, when an idea struck me.

"We can't unlock all of the Aura's because the fighting would destroy the city?"

"You're still thinking about this, eh kid?" Arthur grunted around his fried chicken. I made a habit of keeping standard, homey food in my inventory, for breaks like these. He swallowed. "Look, it won't work. Not everyone is cut out to be a Huntsman."

"So who decides?" I asked in return. "Who decides who gets to have an Aura?"

"Ozpin." Arthur said immediately. "And Huntsmen. You can unlock any Aura you choose but remember, if you unlock it, by law you are responsible for the consequences of that person's Aura- fueled actions for a period of 2 years."

I glanced over at Pyrrha, who glanced away. "I see." The information began turning in my mind in an odd way. Bits and pieces flew together and equally quickly apart. Then, with no warning, my collection of random thoughts solidified into a plan.

An odd plan, one that would likely hurt some people, but it would help many more.

I sighed and got to my feet. "Time to go face the boss. Arthur if you need to prepare for a King Taijitu on steroids, now is the time."

He scoffed. "This dungeon isn't even close to my level, I'm bored enough to fight it with my bare hands."

"Right?" I agreed. "But this snake is something else."

I was wrong. The Taijitu died horribly in one punch from Arthur, that managed to burst both of its heads. He said he got bored of 'watching kids kick rocks'. I didn't even have time to attack it so he got all the XP as well.

I scooped up the loot, noting the same book and same potions had been dropped. Stoutly resolving to ensure that Arther saw none of the money for his crimes against my progress, I looked over the loot.

"Hey Torga?" Pyrrha spoke. For the first time in a while, actually.

"Yes?" I called from where I stood, flipping through **Double Strike**. The option didn't come up to learn the skill book, so I threw it into my inventory for later and walked over to join Pyrrha by the door. Arthur was snapping pictures of the murals on the pillars.

"Doesn't this door look… different?" I looked up at said door.

"Yea," I nodded, "there wasn't a door last time, just those stairs. What do you think?"

"Torga, I know that you're _going_ through that door. You know I'm following you. As for what I think?" She paused. "I think that if there's something else to fight beyond the Taijitu, we should be careful."

"Hm." I knocked on the gold trimming. "I was more wondering if you could lift this door off the frame so we can take this gold. I could just burn it but I don't want to melt the metal."

She sighed as her hands gained their distorted aura. The door didn't budge.

"What, having trouble looting the door?" Arthur chuckled as he walked up to where we were. "Here, let me give you a hand." He walked up and placed a hand on one of the solid wood parts of the door, and the wood he touched slowly started to crumble away. Within half a minute, the wood was simply gone. "Programmable nano-bots." He said, bending to go through the hole in the door without opening it.

I tucked the gold into my inventory, breathing a sigh of relief when it disappeared without a trouble, and followed Arthur.

The second I stepped through the door, I was in an awfully bright and vibrant forest. Arthur was looking around shocked, and as Pyrrha materialized behind me, I swore I could feel her jaw drop. When I think about it, the Forever Fall is really the best example of a forest these guys have, save for the diseased woods outside the walls. This kind of reminded me of a glade or two I'd come across in my roaming, usually protected by a spriggan or three.

We were atop a small hill in a secluded forest. An arrow's shot would reach each of the four stone walls of the enclosure from where we stood. The trees were tall and healthy, vibrant greens clashing with hues of orange and yellow. Interspersed throughout the forest were odd white trees with only red leaves. Birds flitted through the branches and I could hear the chittering of squirrels as they lived their daily lives. Until I heard it again, I hadn't realised how _off_ I'd felt since arriving here. The significant lack of wildlife makes me wonder how much it matters that the world is over-run by Grimm; Will they even be able to feed everyone if they expanded across the globe?

"Where are we?" Pyrrha asked. I left her unanswered as I continued to look around.

"A visitor?" A soft, light voice emerged from the forest. Shortly after, as if melting out of a tree, a naked woman stood before us. She was short, with dirty brown hair tangled with twigs and leaves.

"Observe."

 **Spirit of the Grove**

 **LVL 48**

I found it odd that this thing was as strong as it was, but also that it was weaker than the Taijitu.

Pyrrha, getting over her initial shock, stammered through a blushing face. "H-Hello there little one. How long have you been here?"

The spirit moved lithely towards Pyrrha as if latching onto her attention. "Three thousand years I have tended to my domain. Is it not beautiful?"

"Most impressively so." Arthur agreed with enthusiasm, his helmet retracted. "In fact, were it not for your front walkway, I'd say most of the world would like to see this."

The spirit giggled in a way that set me slightly on edge. I mean, more so than the whole millenia old thing that my present company had seemed to have forgotten. "Silly man, my beautiful forest couldn't handle the whole world at once."

"I can't handle your whole forest at once, it's… beautiful." Pyrrha agreed.

I remained wary. "Wonderful." I flatly replied, without a trace of amusement. A forest is a forest and while it did look nice, so did Solsthiem. "Tell me, are there any ornate chests or powerful beasts in your Glade?"

The spirit whipped it's full attention over to me and her hair appeared to frizz up. "I knew it. You're just like the others." A wind began howling, tossing the boughs of healthy trees. She had to raise her voice to be heard. "You just want to take, never to give!"

"No!" Pyrrha protested, throwing her arm out. "We don't want to hurt you!"

"LIES!" The spirit shrieked as she floated backwards. I don't remember the point where she started levitating. "You think I'm a fool? Your corpses will feed my grove for years, especially _yours_."

She said that last part while staring at me. She was almost upon her forest and her eyes had changed from brown to a glowing red. I pulled a Boar's Tooth from my inventory and sighed. This would not be fun. I gave her one last warning. "Give up the Boss, or the chest, and we leave in peace. Fight, and be slain. Those are your options."

She screeched indiscernably and melded back into her tree. "Oh no, a foe whose mortal weakness is a axe and a bit of effort." I said sarcastically as I strolled over to the tree. "I guess a big sword and a decent amount of effort should do the trick, right?"

I kept walking, but when I didn't even hear Pyrrha giving me shit for going to kill what looked like a little girl I had to look back.

Pyrrha and Arthur were on the ground, fast asleep. I opened my mouth to call out to them and was thus completely blindsided when what felt like a boulder hit me at the speed of an arrow. Of course, after tumbling through the dirt until hitting a tree, I realized that I was instead facing off against a large bear. Boar's Tooth was laying off to the side, but I was hoping I wouldn't need it. After all, this was just a normal bear, not a Grimm.

I was left underwhelmed when I hit it with the same power I hit Ozpin's window with. It was a solid hook to the head, yes, but there's no reason I should have broken its neck with that. To be fair I should have checked its level first but it was going to die for attacking me regardless.

I grabbed Boar's Tooth and brought it over to the tree that the spirit had disappeared into.

That's when an unholy abomination of animals barreled through the forest, pushing aside bushes and thick trees alike. It was huge, easily three times my own height. It was built like a wolf and a dog had mated and it bore the scarred head to match. It had talons on its thinner front legs, and hooves on the rear. The head was adorned with wickedly sharp antlers that just completed the menacing look.

It was moving so fast that I barely had time to jump back into the clearing before it knocked down the spirit's tree. I had just a moment to grab my footing before it was on me again with a pounce and swing of its claw. I swung my sword to meet its attack and was shocked when my weapon was torn from my grip and sent spinning off into the forest. I brought my arms up to try and block but a sweep of the creatures head sent me flying into a nearby tree courtesy of its wicked antlers. This tree was apparently made of sturdy stuff because it held strong.

Then it kept holding on to me when I tried to move away. I struggled to free myself as vines entangled my arms and legs. The spirit's voice whispered in my ear. "Become a part of something greater."

As I struggled I saw the beast lining up to charge me. I groaned once. "I'm great enough, thanks."

The tree rattled and my bonds tightened. A tendril began creeping its way up to my mouth. "Wait! Just one more thing before I get gored, is that okay?"

The beast didn't charge, despite being perfectly capable of doing so, and the vines ceased their movement towards my mouth so I assumed she had granted my request. I aimed my head carefully, placed the back of my skull against the trunk of the tree, and shouted at the weird beast thing.

" _FUS RO DAH!_ "

The forest splintered. Every tree in front of me for 10 metres was simply blown away. Trees beyond that were half toppled, half knocked over by other trees. The beast had been thrown back, apparently lighter than a Goliath (although I was apparently twice as strong as then) and been luckily impaled on of the shattered trunks that littered a once beautiful patch of forest. It let out a roar of pain that choked off into a whimper as it struggled weakly to pull itself off of the trunk of a tree.

"You killed him!" The tree shrieked in my ear as the vines renewed their attempts to envelope me with terrifying haste.. "You killed my pet and destroyed my grove!

"He started it. If you don't stop it, I'll be lighting this whole forest on fire with my mind and pissing on the ashes on my way out." Had I actually been able to move at that point I would have shook my head as my HP finished regenerating back to full.

The vines immediately dropped from my limbs and I peeled myself off the tree with a grunt. I turned back to see a face looking expectantly at me. "Get your companions and leave."

I shook my head. "Sorry, can't do that. You tried to kill me."

"I knew I couldn't trust a human!" She said as she faded back into the tree. I rolled my eyes, then lit up a cone of the forest with Yol.

I was almost unprepared for the power that erupted. Just this one word Shout gave me a greater effect than when I used my full Fire Breath, with the power of the Dragon's Aspect. The trees closest to me immediately flash-burned to ash, and the flames carried on so much so that I only needed to shout once to eradicate an area the size of Riverwood.

I never saw the Spirit again, but at some point after that I got two huge bursts of experience that caused me to gain two levels. It happened during my systematic destruction of the forest, which allowed the bursts to be accounted for by the beasts final death and what I assumed was the spirit, unless she had another monster hiding that just died. Soon enough my party awoke, though they were initially going to stop me from destroying the whole place, once I reminded them we literally had to fight through Grimm to get here we agreed it was likely a bad idea to open up. Besides, who knew if anyone else even _could_ come here?

Their brief idea to open up the grove as a park went down in flames, and Pyrrha sat on a rock nearby the golden door that had reappeared. Arthur spewed flames from his arms somehow in an effort to aid me but I pushed him back as I cast Yol. He shook his head after that and flew off, presumably to explore. I kept working for a while.

"We fell asleep."

"Yes ma'am." I replied, lining up another blast of fire.

"You didn't wake us?"

"No time."

"I meant after you won."

"You seem sure it devolved into violence." I stated. She waved at the burning forest around us. I shrugged.

"I said I would have your back." She persisted. "I'm doing a pretty bad job of it, aren't I?"

"You're not the type to need encouragement, Pyrrha. You're an amazing warrior, but you're still a kid. Don't be so hard on yourself, you've got your whole life for that." I was met with silence, which suited me because I had maybe two or three bursts left to go and I was feeling tired. Not to the point of being hampered but I felt an odd ache in the center of my chest.

Eventually, Pyrrha spoke.

"Why can't we have good things?" She pondered to herself.

"Good times create weakness." I replied as I walked over to join her, finally done. "Weakness makes soft men, and soft men cannot prevent war. War makes hard men, who defeat their enemies and fight so that we can have good times. It's an endless cycle from what I've heard."

"From what you've heard? That sounded pretty wise up until that." She said, still sounding slightly morose.

"Fight me." I shot back sarcastically. "I meant that Skyrim never really _had_ good times so we were all a bunch of hard men and women. Anyone soft didn't make it." I thought for a moment. "Correction: Anyone soft didn't make it with the exception of nobility. They just stayed behind the walls and got drunk off of tax money for the most part."

"Sounds like you needed Huntsman."

"Hah!" I belched out. "Huntsman didn't stop that store from being robbed, remember? We did. We aren't Huntsmen, not yet, but because we did what was right, the greater evil was prevented. To me, it sounds like you either need to make _everyone_ a huntsman, or nobody. At least get rid of the walls so your civilians can get in a fight or two and have some balls."

She shook her head. "We can't have nice things unless we fight for them, then?"

I opened my mouth to continue, but she had pretty much summed up what I was going to say.

"Damn right we can't."

* * *

 **Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the author excuses show.**

 **"But HHR, we don't want useless author exposition we want your story!"**

 **Silly audience, I know that you don't _know_ what you want. Quite frankly, neither did I. Which is why I had to scrap my storyboard and start fresh. Halfway through this chapter I hit a point where I didn't know where Torga was going next. Who he was going to talk to next, who he was going to fight next, what stupid side-quests he'll discover and never do.**

 **So I scrapped it and started the new one, one with a definite end in sight but not anywhere closeby. This story wasn't going to work. I have a couple ideas to tie up loose ends but I would like a bit of brainstorming help. I was originally going to have some White Fang stuff going on but with the amount of reveals and mystery behind Season 4 and with Season 5 coming up, I don't want to dig myself into a canonical hole. Adam will be sidelined for now. I have three ideas and no idea how to set up a poll.**

 **-Create conflict between Torga and Faction:Hunters**

 **-Create conflict between Torga and Faction:TeamRWBY or Faction:TeamJNPR**

 **-Remove Torga from Location:NPCHubVale**

 **Oh and just so everyone knows, I spend at least twice as much time trying to balance all of the game aspects without just throwing status screens at you all day. Nobody wants that. So I do all the gritty organization on my end so you guys don't have to deal with it. I have been thinking about adding a status sheet to the end of each chapter but then I would have to deal with redundancy. Again, let me know what you think.**

 **Thanks for waiting,**

 **~HHR44**


	17. Chapter 16: Transition

As I slammed into the ground I dug my sword in halfway up the length of the blade, impaling the loamy, grassy soil. The tether kept me down as I floated upwards thanks to the effects of Feather Fall, until eventually the skill cut out and I dropped to my feet. Pulling Boar's Tooth from the dirt and tossing it into my inventory, I looked up at the wall behind me. Large and ridden with spotlights, I could see the forms of men pacing the battlements with rifles, a proposition I had yet to truly envision in my initial assessment of firearms. Anyone attempting to climb that wall would be shot down in less than a second.

Unfortunately for them, they weren't on the lookout for people trying to leave so all I had to do was use Feather Fall and a creative jump and I was over the wall in an awkward version of flight.

See, when the team tuckered in for the night, I found myself unable to sleep. I had power now, so much power, and I wanted to _use_ it, I wanted to beat back the Grimm until they were forced into the ocean!

So I had gone out hunting. Or Hunting, I guess. Most nights over the past couple of weeks since Velvet woke up were spent out here, beyond the wall. It was tough work, and I began to understand why the walls were there instead of leaving the civilians to the Grimm. The problem wasn't that they were strong; I still reserved my opinion that lesser Grimm like Beowolves and Boarbatusk could be dispatched by a mildly trained pair of civilians. No, the problem was that there were _so damn many_.

My original plan on the first day had been to find a nice hill and hold it against all comers until the sun came up. That plan had gone to shit in about 15 minutes. I had been swarmed by an entire _flock_ of Nevermore while I attempted to hold off the literal army of Ursae, both Major and Minor. The best way I found was to keep moving around a circuit, killing any Grimm I saw. I was training my physical attributes more this way, though stopping for a break was just as difficult, mainly because it involved losing the Grimm and hopping back over the walls. Experience was slow coming.

I made it about 25 meters from the wall tonight before I heard the first howl. My items from the fight against the Nevermore went on, and I found that I could see through the forest as if it were daytime, as if tree trunks were made out of stained glass. I could hear the Beowolf howl again as I moved closer. I didn't necessarily want that one in particular but the Grimm don't howl for no reason. Either it had sniffed me out which was only slightly likely, or it had found some other prey.

I didn't hurry, I was so far undetected and wanted to stay that way. I would be able to see any Grimm coming, true, but that didn't mean I would see them as they heard or smelled me and moved to ambush. Another howl joined the first. I made a brief realization that the commotion was going on near the south gate. An ear-piercing shriek filled the night just as the first rifle shots were fired.

I broke all pretense of stealth and weaved through the gnarled trees to the deforested zone by the wall, then sprinted along its length until I could see the gate. It didn't take long.

Spotlights were shining on a little girl and boy that were pounding on the huge gate. A small pack of Beowolves encircled them, being held back by sporadic fire from the guards on top of the wall. From that distance, they were unable to do much more than shoot the ground around the wolves. There were only 6 or so of them, but from the noises in the forest and the wailing of the children I wagered there were many more on the way.

The entire pack got blown away by a single _Fus_ , clearing the road and relieving the children. I heard muffled shouts from the guards atop the wall but tuned them out for now.

I moved towards the children. "You two need to get your shit together right now or we're all going to die, ya hear?"

The boy looked at me through dirty blonde hair, lip quivering. His eyes widened. "You're a Hunter!"

"Sure thing." I replied, latching onto whatever worked. The girl had just started to cry harder. "I need you to calm her down though. Negative emotions draw Grimm, and I can't fight the whole world by myself."

He looked at me with wide eyes, like a deer caught in a magelight. I gave him a smack in the side of the head to snap him out of it. "Boy, you can lose your mind all you want later. Get her under control, please."

 _Because I sure as hell can't do it without violence._ I left unsaid. Little kid didn't need to hear that.

The sounds of the Grimm closing were getting louder, so I prepared for the fight. In my left arm I equipped the shield I had made with Ruby. It was a towering shield, one that spanned almost my whole height, and with a little bit of mechashift it expanded to provide a half-cocoon. If I could bring this shield alone back, the Dragon War could have been won easily. It was resistant to most impacts and elements, a trait only enhanced by my Aura Enhancement skill. I left it unactivated for now.

In my right hand, a long, long battleaxe. On one side of the head was a dark edge that slightly resembled a talon, the other a gruesome spike in the semblance of a feather. It was an axe I had made from a Nevermore Feather somehow. I gave it a few swipes, satisfied in how light the cumbersome weapon felt. My Dust Battery was full of Fire dust, my HP and AP were full with barely anything to spend them on, and as I activated my Aura Enhancement on my weapon it gained a faint sheen of flames.

So when the first Beowulf popped out of the tree line, I hit it with the flat of the axe, causing it to detonate and fly in pieces back to the forest. An Ursa came barreling out next, this one I smashed in the snout with my shield.

It staggered back, and I switched my skills around, enhancing my shield with Aura and bashing it again with Double Strike. This time the opposite side of my shield detonated in an odd _ti-tik-BOOM_ and caused a spray of Grimm to paint the nearest trees. Or maybe they were just scorched. The trees, not the Grimm; The Ursa had definitely been destroyed.

The little boy seemed to be doing better, or at least the brief stint of action seemed to let him regain confidence. He was hugging the girl, muttering something in her ear.

I knew the look of a child too far gone though. This girl wouldn't let up until she was out of the situation or she fell asleep.

Another roar brought me back to the treeline where I saw a Beowolf charge me from the left side. Two more came from the right. I briefly wondered what to do before the Beowolf to my left suffered a sudden case of bullet to the head and fell dead.

In a blur of red, Ruby Rose tore the other two to ribbons. "Player Two has entered the match, Hya!" She ended with a karate pose.

I blinked, wondering how she got here before realizing I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Three wolves I can handle no problem. When the hordes come though, I would need all the help I could get.

"Good to see you here." I said, mildly awkwardly. My training had meant to be discreet, at least discreet enough to fool a teenager.

"Well see Yang said you were getting stronger and so I looked and you were so I thought 'Hm, I wonder why that is' so I followed you and now here I am." She took a breath, looked around, and nodded. "Yep. So you've been out Hunting, huh?"

"Feel like getting the kids out of here?" I said, scanning the trees and avoiding her question. "I can't seem to calm them down."

She leaned over. "Maybe it's because you look like a weird Grimm thing right now."

I looked over at her strangely before tearing off the goggles. I shook my head. Something brightened in my head, something I couldn't notice until it happened, then the feeling faded and I forgot all about it. "They're night vision, forgot how scary it looked."

She scooped up the girl in her arms, having already put away her scythe. "I'll be back in just a second."

"Don't worry about me." I replied with a grin I really didn't feel like putting on. "I've got the tough guy to help me."

"M-me?" The kid asked.

"Yea, you. I've got a plan for us. Ruby, the girl who took your friend-"

"She's a Huntress, right? She said so!"

"That she is. She's gonna come back but until then more of the Grimm are coming. What's your name buddy?" From the sound of things it wouldn't be long at all.

"My sister calls me Blue."

I held my hand behind my back and used a different aspect of Dust Battery. I didn't want him to see but I also didn't like to watch. Basically what happened was that my hand started sweating whatever Dust I happened to be charged with and formed it into a crystal that grew based on how much of my Dust bar I used. I could essentially absorb and secrete Dust. It was not comfortable.

I handed him a small Red Dust crystal. "Alright Blue, here's what you're going to-"

I was cut off as the Grimm arrived en masse, streaming down the road and the woods to each side. I wasn't able to count, just turn my head and shout.

' _Fus Ro Dah!'_

Needless to say that a full shout amplified by both class and title did a lot more than triple the width of the road. Any Grimm in the path were picked up and thrown. Trees cracked and fell, the smaller ones just splintered. Rocks and stumps that had probably sat where they were for generations were tossed away from my gate.

Complete silence filled the night save for the buzz of the spotlights. "Throw that as far down the road as you can when I tell you to, okay?"

He simply nodded as he looked at me with wide eyes. I was used to that already, though it took a lot of willpower to not break out into a grin at the sight of destruction. That willpower ceased to be required when I heard a familiar stomp. Then a not so familiar ring.

 **Incoming Call from: Ruby Rose**

 **Answer?**

 **[YES] [NO]**

I tapped the obvious choice.

" _Torga? Torga they won't let me back down!"_

I whipped my head up to see what was going on but the spotlights blocked my attempt and almost blinded me.

"What's going on?" I growled as I blinked the spots out of my eyes..

" _They said- Hold on."_ I heard muttered voices. " _There's a Hunter on the way, hold out until-"_ She pulled the phone away from her mouth for a moment.

"Ruby?" I said, glancing between the boy and the forest. I wasn't worried about myself, I had already tested my power against a Beowolf. With no skills, items, or Aura I could take one on and win. By win, I mean lazily fight while letting myself take hits to up my Physical Endurance some more. I didn't take much damage as it was but more never hurt. If I could ignore all damage, or even half…

No, I was worried about the boy. He clutched that crystal so tight that if I didn't know better I would have been afraid of him detonating it. I absently swatted away a boarbatusk that had been rolling down the road in plain sight using an Air Slash, which detonated on impact in a ball of fire.

The window that displayed my call with Ruby faded, and the girl herself dropped to my side in a flood of rose petals.

"Cowards, all of them." She said through gritted teeth.

"Told ya." I said.

"Yea, thanks for that." I raised an eyebrow. Ruby usually wasn't the type to fire back.

"What happened up there?"

She stomped her foot in a very Weiss-like manner before her tirade, and several times throughout. "I went up to drop off the girl, and they said that they couldn't open the gates."

"Makes sense." I replied.

"Yea, I don't like it but I know." She drew her weapon. "Then I told them I could get Blue over here and you know what they said? They said that a Huntress-In-Training has no business being _out of the school_. Can you believe them?"

I hummed in response, barely precluding the arrival of more Grimm.

Without Ruby there, I'm not sure how long I could have held out. I have power, I have a tough body that can take punishment, and I'm also incredibly fast. Ruby had _skill_.

With a bang she took off towards the group, flutters of rose petals intermixed with sprays of red and pieces of Grimm as she demolished the right side. I stood against the left, launching Air Slash after Air Slash as fast as I could. Each detonation pushed back the Grimm, but I eventually ran out of my Dust Batery and the Slashes merely did damage. I kept Aura Enhancement on both of my weapons, and leapt into the fray myself, punching a Beowolf's head into the dirt with the weight of my shield. I brought it back up to block a claw swipe from an Ursa, when my leg was taken out from underneath me. An Ursa Major had gotten the limb in it's jaws.

I was thrown back and forth for a brief second before getting thrown. Tumbling head over heels, I hit the ground in an awkward sprawl. I was attempting to roll to my feet when the Ursa struck again, knocking me back into the arms of a Beowolf. The wolf snarled and opened its jaw to bite at me, but it's skull vanished in a red mist, courtesy of Ruby.

"Stay back, Torga! You've got to keep the boy safe!" She shouted as she hung in the air above the battlefield, before a report from her weapon sent her streaking back to the earth.

I gritted my teeth as the Ursa barreled towards me, fighting my urge to meet it head on and rolling aside. I tucked the shield back into my inventory. After seeing how little my AP had dropped from being hit and thrown around like that, I deactivated my Aura as well. All the more power to focus on myself.

I leaped back to the gate where the boy sat, knees drawn to his chest and head buried in his hands. He had been doing so well, too. Part of me briefly entertained the idea of killing him then and there. There was precedence, I had once been down in a Dwemer mine when a patrol of Falmer strolled through. They could hear my hound panting, he had been injured in a spear trap earlier on. I had to put him down, there were too many of them and I was still comparatively weak. An brief pang of regret was all I needed to abandon that idea though.

Well, when something is sick, you either quarantine it to save everyone else, or you heal the sickness before it's too late. I gave my pathetic attempt at the latter.

"Hey, Blue."

He didn't answer, and I resisted the urge to snap at him. He was only a scared little kid, from a soft little world.

"Blue, I need that crystal."

His head shot up and in a flash he whipped his arm out, throwing the Dust down the road towards the rapidly dissolving pile of Grimm corpses. It clattered to a halt as more Grimm stalked their way out of the forest. I noticed that they avoided they crystal from it's resting place, before I was too distracted to reprimand Blue for throwing away my fire.

I led with a minor Unrelenting Force to knock them back and stagger their approach. It worked, for a brief second, though none were truly injured. All it took was for one stupid, stupid Beowolf to charge and the rest of the horde followed. I could still hear the sound of shots from deeper in the forest and noticed that the majority of the Grimm were coming from the left; Ruby was still slaughtering Grimm, and I suddenly thought it was very fitting she wielded a scythe.

Fortunately, I was much better with two hands to grip my axe, and the heads began to roll. I never disabled Aura Enhancement, and used Double strike with each hit. Occasionally I would charge up and use a Power Strike with a kick but I fought best with my feet planted. I thinned out the herd, dismissing annoying pop-up after pop-up as I held my ground.

 **Battleaxe Mastery levelled up! Unarmed Mastery levelled up! Aura Enhancement levelled up!**

A pounce from the front - I meet the beast with an uppercut, slamming it into the ground behind me. A claw from the left - I crouch down onto my right leg, leaning back and under. Wide, stinking jaws above me - I backhand the offending Ursa with an armored gauntlet, and use the break to drop a shoulder and charge my way out of the circle. I set myself between the gate and the Grimm, having less than a second before I'm set upon again.

I could see Ruby in the air in the distance, somewhere I knew I wouldn't accidently hit her, and grinned before I finally let loose the good stuff.

" _Yol Toor!"_

The Grimm burned. It was as simple as that. No matter how strong I was as a person, my shouts were on an entirely different scale of existence. I could describe the effects of dragon fire on poor roads and sickly trees, but it was ultimately the same. Utter destruction and consumption.

It didn't take long for Ruby to reappear, her clothes slightly tattered and herself looking a tad out of breath. "What was _that?_ "

I raised an eyebrow. "I told you I could do a bunch of stuff, didn't I?"

She pointed towards the melted remains of the road, the scorched earth to either side, and the trees that were slowly crumbling to ash beyond that. Even further, the forest was crackling, ready to spring into a full blaze any second. I recognized the sight from Skyrim, though usually the cold and wet helped stave off forest fires. " _That_ is more than 'a bunch of stuff', that's awesome! I mean, you're probably going to get in trouble for the road but still!" Then again, I was also stronger now.. Wait, what?

"Why would I get in trouble?" Yes, I destroyed their road. I also protected their citizens and held the gate. "Nevermind, just take this kid over the wall."

"But I won't be able to come back. I'm getting in trouble too, you know."

I snorted. "Just say it was my fault, and I mind-controlled you or something. Ozpin already knows I can do stuff like that."

"Wait, WHAT?!" She turned towards me with a very disconcerting look on her face, one I was not prepared to see from her, right now. "You can?"

I was careful not to backtrack too quickly. I spoke slowly and clearly. "Yes, Ruby, I can. I can explain all of my power to you sometime later, but just because I can, doesn't mean I _do._ My gift is one of great power, and potentially evil power. But even the most evil of tools can be used for good. Do you understand?"

"So, what," She glared. "You don't read people's minds unless you feel like it's for a good reason?"

I was about to retort with something incredibly mean-spirited and had opened my mouth to do just so when I felt the ground shaking again. Harder, and faster.

"Get him gone, Ruby."

"Fine, meanie!" She grabbed Blue and vanished into a burst of rose petals. I sighed and began walking down the scorched remains of the road.

 **Heat Resistance levelled up!**

A glinting caught my eye, and I saw that somehow, the crystal that Blue had thrown hadn't detonated in the initial explosion. In fact, if I was correct…

 **Super Red Dust Crystal**

It seems I was. I picked it up and attempted to use it to fill my Dust Battery but I was instead met with a pop-up.

 **Warning!**

 **Using the Dust Battery skill with a Super Dust Crystal can produce unknown side-effects. Would you like to proceed?**

I didn't hesitate for a second before saying yes, even though an image of myself detonating flashed briefly through my skull.

 **Fire Affinity increased by +1!**

 **You have learned the skill 'Flamethrower'!**

 **Flamethrower LVL1 (Active) Cost: 15AP**

 **Through your time spent among the fires of destruction, you have learned to channel the heat within and expel a gout of fire from your hand.**

 **Range: 10m**

Oh. Well that's not bad at all, especially if I can replicate it. If I use Yol on red dust, and that makes it _Super_ Red Dust, which is both more powerful _and_ can be used to increase my Fire Affinity… My entire order that I planned to unlock my shouts in had just been scattered to the wind. Checking on the page for Fire Affinity I confirmed that it essentially lessened my damage from fire and increased my effectiveness while wielding it.

The stomping was growing closer, prompting me to make my way back to the gate, I hadn't seen it yet, but I had an odd feeling that the Baby Goliath was on it's way.

Unfortunately, the world had other plans for me.

I felt an odd tugging on the back of my neck. Then I felt a tugging, and then I was unconscious.

I woke up to the sounds of conflict. "-y fault! We had a plan, and then you spring a sudden change on me. How would I remember what happens on the first time, mine was when I was three!"

"That's enough, he's up." I recognized that voice, and flung my eyes open, instantly regretting it. I groaned.

"What the hell were you thinking, going Hunting alone?!" A female screeched at me. I still had not adjusted my eyes to the bright light, though I could feel that I wasn't in a bed, but on some chair or couch.

"Leave him be for now, nobody likes being teleported."

"It's not teleporting, it's-"

"Shh." I managed, slowly opening my eyes again. The room I was in wasn't even that brightly lit, just a lantern on a small wooden table, the couch I was on, and a window with blinds drawn. I could see the pale light of dawn peeking through the crack in the shades. Compared to most other places, this was oddly low-tech.

"You heard him." Another female voice said as the door opened. I glanced around and my eyes immediately shot into focus. "Keep it quiet for another couple minutes, I'm no miracle worker."

The speaker was an absolutely gorgeous woman, a brunette with braided back hair and a scar upon her face. She stood tall and confident, with a gaze that said 'I already know what I'm going to see, and I dare you to deny me'. She wore a black tank top, and cargo shorts, with a pair of black sunglasses hanging from the neckline of her shirt. On her back was what appeared to be a standard military rifle, one of the types that I'd seen racks of in Gale's.

"Says the woman who literally works miracles?" Arthur shot back. I whipped my head around to be certain, but surely enough Arthur was sitting against the wall across the room. He was wearing an oddly tight grey suit with an odd linear pattern on it. The last girl was a darker skinned female who was sitting beside Arthur, but not close enough to suggest anything. I was sitting alone in the only seat in the room.

"Says her." The brunette said, coming around to the front of my chair and looking me in the eyes. "You don't look much like he did."

I glanced around, connecting dots as quickly as I could. "I'm also not as much of a dick."

The tension sharpened in the brunettes face, and I feared that I had dared to go too far with his team. The brown-skinned girl spoke for me.

"He doesn't mean it, he-" She stared intently at me, which had me staring quizzically back. "Nevermind." She shot out, then looked down and went back to her own.

"So are you just full of shit or do we have some next-level questing to do?" The brunette pressed.

"I-" My mouth caught, and my eyes widened. That hadn't been what I was going to lead with.

"I am-" What the actual fuck? I'm not being spoken for, but when I tried to speak my mouth formed different words.

The brunette grinned. "You won't out-do my semblance. _Ozpin_ can't out-do my semblance. Just answer truthfully and you'll go back to normal."

I clamped my mouth shut, determined not to tell her what she wanted to know. I had no idea what she wanted to know but I knew magic when I felt it. Except I never felt it. I wasn't being manipulated or _anything_.

"Listen, there's two ways we can do this. I have probability control over my immediate area. Do you understand what that means?"

I winced, then my eyes widened.

"You should be afraid. You are _here_ because I decided that the probability of you being here was 100%. Therefore, you were here. Do you get it now?"

I stayed silent.

Arthur sighed. "Look, man. It's not worth it. Do you wanna know how quick shes going to decide on the odds of your balls getting tied together? Don't do it." I looked at him with wide eyes, trying to convey fear. He didn't buy it. To be fair, I wasn't all that convincing.

"Fine. We'll do this another way. But know this," I turned back to the brunette as she stared at me threateningly. "If you lie to me, you'll begin to dissolve over the course of a week starting at your toes. Don't lie. Now, are you or are you not originally from a different 'world'?"

"Mind, Yes. Body and soul, Unsure."

"He doesn't want to dissolve." The brown-skinned woman said.

"Who would?" I replied, careful to keep my tone even. I'd seen too many men killed by supposedly infallible truth-seeing tests. I'd seen one, and that alone was too many.

"When did you get here?"

I was still unfamiliar with the calendar. "I don't know."

"Who brought you here?"

That one was easy. "I did."

She waited a brief moment, then continued. "How?"

"Elder Scroll."

Arthur shot up off the ground. "The what?"

"An Elder Scroll." I repeated. "It brought me here."

"Why?"

I had done a lot of thinking. "Most likely, because I asked it to."

"Explain."

"Can you take the thing where I melt off? I would really like that." I replied.

"No." She replied.

I shrugged. "Fine. You're an ugly cow and there is absolutely no way in hell I would ever find you attractive."

 **You have obtained the status 'Unravelling'!**

I resolved to check that out when I could as it seemed rather worrisome. As the brunette looked at me expectantly, I noted that my HP began to sink, even past my impressive regeneration. I activated Conversion. My HP shot back up to full, but my AP started sinking slowly. I had levelled up Conversion a few times, enough to the point where I could use it without losing too much AP. I could keep the skill up for just over 15 minutes. When I ran out of AP I would switch it off long enough to regain my AP then heal myself again. With luck I could find a place to meditate, or better yet, sleep until the status wore off.

In her moment of shock, I observed the two women.

 **Mirian McMuffin**

 **LVL?**

 **The Book-Keeper**

 **Rassa Julani**

 **LVL73**

 **The Empath**

"As fun as this is, I would appreciate knowing why you brought me here. I was in the middle of something." I still felt kind of groggy but my senses had returned to normal. "Also, in case you didn't notice that last part was a lie. I was just testing your power."

She raised an eyebrow, having regained composure. "And?" Her tone was dangerous.

"I will gladly answer questions, but I don't do well with interrogation. It's the principle of the matter." I explained. "I do find it quite worrisome though. What could it mean to 'unravel'?"

Her eyes narrowed, and the status disappeared. Part of me wished it had stayed, that would have meant free experience for my healing skills without having to get someone to beat me up.

Then I realized I could now hold my hands together and use Flamethrower to burn. HP down, two skills levelling up…

"We had to pull you out of there. There was a team inbound for you. It's a good thing you got your friend out before, she'll be fine. _You_ on the other hand, Ozpin has been looking for a reason to get rid of." Arthur explained as he stretched. "Going out Hunting as a first-year is reason enough to expel you, and that means you'd be kicked outside the city walls. That's a death sentence."

I glanced around, seeing all of these faces, these presumably powerful people looking to see what I would say next. They wouldn't admit so until much later, but I had shaken them when I had shrugged off Mirian's power. "I disagree. Well, if he had done it right then and there, maybe. I grow quick though."

"So did Jak." Rassa spoke from her position. She remained on the ground with her head down and her hands in her lap.

"So, what? We ship me off somewhere else? Why are you guys even bothering anyways?"

"It's the right thing to do." Mirian shot out immediately, which meant I immediately dismissed her. I looked to Arthur instead.

"We know what can happen. We know you have incredible potential, and we know that you can change the shape of the world. It's just in the cards. You were brought here by an artifact of ancient origin, and are therefore tied to this land. I could try to prove it scientifically but I don't want to dissect you."

I shuddered. "No thank you. I know how the Elder Scrolls work, generally. Well, in my experience. The first one did what I wanted it to do, in a way. The second and third did what I needed them to do, even though I did not know I what I needed until all was said and done with. The fourth came to me, compared to the others. Maybe there's something here that I need to do, and I just don't know it. In any case, what happens next? I just live in this chair?"

"Obviously not. There's an apartment set up in Vale, you can train discreetly until you've got the power to set off on your own for a different Kingdom."

"Why the hell would I do that?" I replied, bothered. I did not enjoy the feeling that I was running away from something, even though I had no idea what that something was. "I'll do the apartment thing for now, sure, but I still need to pass my midterms or I'll be stuck in this tutorial forever."

Arthur had the decency to look ashamed. "I said I would take care of that, didn't I?"

"You did."

He sullenly walked off, enough so I knew he was over-dramatizing it.

Mirian waited until he left, then gave Rassa a look. I didn't see what happened but she vanished.

Before she could speak, I took the initiative. "What's going on? Why all the secrecy?"

She stared me down for a moment, then crouched, balancing on the balls of her feet. "How do you feel about Professor Ozpin?"

I shrugged. "Decent fellow. Has too many secrets to trust, and a man that can't be trusted doesn't trust anyone else. He likes to appear all-knowing, but I've noticed an odd twitch or two. He's got his own way of being dramatic."

She laughed, a sound I had not yet heard but decided I wanted to hear more. "Pretty much summed him up. I won't be saying anything here or now, there's too many ears. I'm just going to say that Ozpin has a lot more on the line than his reputation if his image were to be shattered. Now, I'm going to send us to your new apartment. Don't worry, the first time is always the worst."

I blinked, and we were somewhere new. We stood in a small, room with dark red walls and hardwood floors. A round wooden table sat before a small kitchen further in, with a basic chair on either side. To my right, a door which led to a bathroom. To my left, a blank wall. "You can hang things up if you'd like. The place is yours to do with as you will."

Glancing out the window, I could see that I was in one of the larger apartment buildings, somewhere in the middle. "I looked into apartments when I first got here." I walked towards the table, my armored boots clanging harshly against the tile in the kitchen. A single apple sat on the table. I picked it up, finding it odd. It was quite… perfect. All of the colours were so natural, the way the light hit the surface of the skin was impeccable. I held up the apple with a questioning look.

"Why is there a fake apple on my table?"

Mirian rolled her eyes and grabbed the apple from my hand, placing it back on the table. "It's for decoration."

I continued my exploration, as there was an doorless entryway to another room. This one, I unequipped my boots and socks for.

I let out a moan as I stepped inside. "Dearest Meridia, I have seen the light.." I muttered to myself, wiggling my toes amongst the thick, curling strands of blue carpet. This room had walls that were plain white, a bed adorned in black sheets and pillows, and a sliding door out to… "Hey, I have a balcony?"

"Figured you would want a way in and out."

"You figured correctly. So uh… why?"

She huffed. "Took you long enough."

"What, you're actually going to tell me?" I said sarcastically.

"No. I was just wondering how long it would be until you asked. You're quite stubborn, aren't you?"

"I'm a lot of things, Mirian." Her eyes narrowed, and she vanished. I briefly wondered whether or not something terrible would happen to me but half a minute passed and nothing changed. I opened the sliding door and was assaulted by the sounds of the city, and crisp, cool, autumn air.

Stepping outside, I was assaulted once more, though if it were an actual assault I would have bared my neck and made it as easy as possible to be defeated.

No, this was a message:

 **Congratulations, Player! You have completed the tutorial!**

 **Rewards:**

 **-General Menu Unlocked!**

 **-Relationship Menu and Notifications Locked!**

 **-Mini-Map Locked!**

 **-Gained 975,000 Lien!**

 **-Gained Skill: Dungeon Access!**

 **-Gained Skill: Dungeon Escape!**

"Oh, _fuck_ yes. Now, the slaughter begins."

* * *

 **Hey guys,**

 **Here we go. This is where we spin off the rails from canon a bit more. Torga is a bit too powerful to be gallivanting along with JNPR and RWBY during the school days. He's going to be off on his own related but still different adventures. No, I'm not cutting out RWBY or JNPR, l'm just... diverging their paths. There will be a slight hiatus as I go watch the second and third season so I can make sure to get all the lore right, but as usual no promises on the date and no apologies being given.**

 **Also, there was a guy giving anonymous reviews under the name 'TheCritic'. Please PM me, I love your insight and would really like it if you could look at new chapters before I release.**

 **Also as always, feel free to throw offensive skills at me. I've got defensive ideas for days and the Phanderix Magic World mod for Skyrim is giving me oodles of ideas, but maybe some buff and debuff concepts? Thanks for the help.**


	18. Chapter 17: More Weapons

I was awoken from my nap by a ringing sound and a notification telling me that Arthur Polendina was calling. I sighed, realizing with a glance out my balcony doors that it was only around midday, though a snowy rain made me glad that winter would be here soon. The warmth was great but I longed for the clean, cold air I had lived in my whole life. Past life, I guess.

Crawling out of bed, I grumbled. I didn't need sleep, but having some would be nice. Sometimes I needed to recharge my mind, even if I didn't have to do so for my body quite as often. I answered the call as I went right back to training.

"Hello?" I said, pulling a Blue Dust Crystal out of my inventory as I began repeatedly using Featherweight. I absorbed the crystal, charging up the Dust Battery while simultaneously pushing the dust right back in. The result was an endless loop with me holding an oddly shifting Blue Crystal and training. This method had shot the skill up in leaps and bounds, though it was slow going after level 60.

"Remember what I said about the Temple?"

"I couldn't hear it over your snoring, remind me?" I shot back. There was a pause, then a half-hearted chuckle.

"Even the best of us take naps. I meant about the gaming thing. You're at your apartment, right? Of course you are. I'll be there in 2 minutes."

My eyes lit up. There was no way he was going to blow all of my money on some sort of entertainment. Maybe half would be fine, I mean it was a lot of money, but no, I wanted to get myself one of those Omni-Fabricators. The ability to just _make_ weapons from scratch of whatever design I please with little to no effort? Sign me up.

I had just enough time to empty the dust battery and place both crystals on my kitchen table before I heard a knock at my balcony door. I slid it open and Arthur strolled in, throwing himself on my unmade bed. "So, how much are we working with here?"

I sighed and pulled out a chair for myself in front of the table. "You _do_ know I'm not spending half of my money on games. I could get behind the home entertainment system because I just train in here most of the time anyways but I need my hands to train, and to play games."

He frowned. "Fine, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook. How much did you get from the temple?"

I put my hand into my inventory and pulled out 100,000 Lien, throwing it onto the table nonchalantly and hoping he accepted it as all I had. He did.

"This should be enough. So, let's get planning, shall we?" He said, tossing an orb onto my floor that then lit up with… holographic stereo and television equipment. "I'm thinking we throw a screen on this wall with subs behind it, and…'

For the next half an hour or so he babbled on with my occasional grunt of affirmation before he grabbed the orb, did something with it, then tossed it out my balcony door and shot it with a laser. "Alright, it'll be done by the time we get back. You have 20,000 Lien left. I'm giving you two options: Games, or Dust."

"Dust!" I shot back instantly, pushing him towards the balcony. "Let's go, I haven't been able to get anything good from the temple for ages."

He whipped around. "You went back alone?!"

I waved a hand. "Only until the Respite, don't worry. " Truth be told, I didn't want to go back to that grove. The rest of that temple reset every time, but I had no idea if I had destroyed one of the last beautiful places this world has, even if it was dangerous. The thought tugged weirdly at my heart in a way that the Gamer's Mind seemed to have trouble suppressing. Arthur continued to glare at me. "What, it's not as if I would be seen! I go right from here to the temple, right back, and I need to get stronger."

He sighed. "Yes. Yes you do. You're right. Tell you what, let's go get some dust then head over to the Temple for a run. I'll sit back this time." I raised an eyebrow. So far, Mirian had been adamant about me staying inside, staying safe. As tends to be the case with Arthur, however, that was all there was to it.

He gave me some clothes and a helmet that hid my eyes. The helmet also hid my hair, so I felt pretty covered. From there, I carefully hopped across slippery rooftops and he flew until we came to a warehouse. Without hesitating he pushed open a man door and I followed him in to see racks upon racks of dust vials, crystals, rounds, and every form I'd seen. The stockpile was guarded by a trio of spider mechs, a few soldiers and a man I assumed to be a Hunter from his get up. I kicked the slush off my boots as we strode in.

"Arthur! Good to see you again, how'd the last experiment go?"

Arthur laughed and clasped the man's arm. "Fantastic, but you know I can't give any details. James would have my head."

"Who would tell him?" The man replied with an uneasy chuckle.

"This here's Jacob." He diverted. "I'm taking him under my wing for a little bit, teaching him the ways of the badass. Just here to grab some dust."

The Huntsman raised a shaggy black eyebrow that disappeared into his curly brown hair. "Hm. Well, you know the best I can give him is Lesser."

"Yea, yea, that'll do, I doubt he's looking to mess with time anytime soon." My eyes widened, having never even considered the possibility.

"So what's your gig, kid? You got a Dust semblance or something?"

I shrugged; Arthur had told me not to talk. Instead, I pulled a red crystal out of my inventory and held it out in my palm, letting him watch as I absorbed it. He let out a low whistle. "Damn kid, I'm glad you're on our side. You could sneak Dust just about anywhere." I fought the urge to inform him that I could sneak almost _anything_ anywhere. "Well, take your pick, if you steal I'll know, and please for the love of everything holy _don't knock anything over_." With that, he retreated to a desk and Arthur turned to me.

"Well great job, now you have an alternate persona with a semblance. Go get what you want, I need a couple of things."

I grinned and took off into the rows of racking. I skipped by all of the Basic types, going on instead to the Lesser types. Steam, Explosive, Ice, Growth, Sand, Metal, Acceleratory. Glass?

Some of these didn't seem so powerful, but I knew for a fact that almost anything can be used as a weapon. I grabbed a couple crystals of each then went to the back of the warehouse where they had one rack that was armored and guarded by two more of the spider bots. With a grin I peered inside.

 **Plasma Dust Vial (Greater)**

 **Radiation Dust Vial (Greater)**

 **Fusion Dust Crystal (Greater)**

 **Super Control Dust Vial (Greater)**

"Wow…" I said, having no real comparison to how effective these might be in combat. I immediately decided I wanted them, and resolved to find a way to get it myself. Maybe I could go and find a dust mine when I left the city? Who knows. I just wanted to see if absorbing Lesser Dust would give me stronger abilities, because that would mean that the Greater dust also did so and while I'm not sure what most of these words meant, if they were stronger than explosives then it must be good.

"You done yet?" Arthur came up behind me, a briefcase small in his large hand.

"What's Fusion?" I replied, pointing at the crystal.

Arthur sighed. "Of course you look at fusion… it's an odd crystal. We can use factory techniques to make Lesser dust out of the basic dust types, right? We can do the same to bring Lesser to Greater, but it always requires at least a little bit of Fusion Dust, even to make more Fusion Dust. Schnee says he can do it without but I think he's full of it."

"Oh…" I don't know what I had thought. "I was looking for something a bit more powerful."

He chuckled. "Dust is like sex, my young apprentice. A bigger crystal gets a bigger bang, but it's a lot more important how you use it."

"Spoken like a man who's running low on Dust."

He laughed truly this time. "Clever man. What'd you get, anyways?"

I pulled the bag out of my inventory and showed him the contents. He slapped his palm to his face and immediately began putting all of my Lesser Dust back. "Do you _want_ to put your new self on a watch list in the first building you go into? The only people that buy this large of a variety of Lesser crystals are either manufacturing Greater's with black market Fusion or about to blow themselves up."

I shrugged. "I learn fast enough and heal fast enough."

He scoffed. " _We_ know that."

In the end I just got a butt load of vials of Basic Dust. Arthur assured me that it would be more than enough for the Temple but I still was upset enough that he caved and let me get one type of Lesser Dust. I thought about getting Explosive, but his words from earlier came to mind and for the sake of keeping a low profile, I stuck with Ice.

It ended up costing exactly 20,000 Lien. It was only then that I made the connection that this wasn't a regular Dust store. I asked the armored Huntsman about it as we left.

"It's one of Oz's stockpiles. He stared placing them around the city when the White Fang activity started rising. Wanted to ensure he could always equip his Hunter's. I abuse the privacy for my own purposes. Now, to the Dungeon? You can bring people with you, right?"

"I think so. One second…"

With a thought, I brought up the Party Options menu.

Another wonderful thing I had discovered since my tutorial ended. If I mentally envisioned one of the blue menus popping up while… I guess thought-speaking the words? Regardless, if I tried I could use my menus silently.

 **PARTY OPTIONS**

 **Invite to Party**

 **Party Members**

 **Rename Party**

 **XP Distribution**

 **Loot Distribution**

 **Map Options**

 **Disband Party**

I invited Arthur to the Party mentally, then made sure that the XP distribution was set to Individual. No reason for me to share if he wasn't going to be doing anything. I set Loot to Even-Split for items underneath Rare quality just in case something went wrong, then quickly renamed the party.

I hoped he wouldn't notice as it was just a little something for myself, but… "Party name has been changed to 'Doovahdeein'? What the hell does that mean?"

I glanced at the name.

 **Party Name: Dovahdein**

"It's pronounced 'Doh-vah-dayn. It means Dragonguard." He looked at me quizzically. "My old company." I explained.

"Neat. Shall we?"

As predicted, the skeletons were child's play at this point. I kept my dust battery empty, and simply sent in Air Slashes to clear the hallways. When they didn't detonate from the Fire Dust, they would just plow right through 3 or 4 until they dissipated. When my Aura got low, it was a simple matter of tearing them to pieces with a shout, holding off any survivors with whatever weapon I felt like at the time, then repeat. I did let myself take a couple of hits here and there, just for the resistance experience. Due to the monotony, we had plenty of brainpower left to talk.

"So." I swung vertically, bisecting a skeleton with Boar's Tooth then following through with a lazy twirl breaking the next apart at the hip. "Last time we were here, we were talking about unlocking aura. How exactly would I go about doing that?"

"Very fucking carefully." He answered, face grim. "You don't understand the position you're in right now, do you?"

I thought about replying.

"Of course you don't. Long story short, people want you dead. Not very many, but very powerful people."

"What the hell?" I drew a red dust crystal out of my inventory and absorbed it, planting Boar's Tooth in the ground with one hand and using the other to launch a Flamethrower down the hall every now and again. Not quite as impressive as my _Yol_ but still very effective. "Why?"

His face darkened. "You can blame Jak for that one. He's a bit of a wild card. Does what he wants, when he wants, and can do it too well for his own good, I think."

"Okay so, what did he do, and why is it all of a sudden my fault?"

"Well, somehow word got out to some people about your Semblance and because of the things that _he_ can do, people are scared you'll turn out like him, or worse. These are the types of people that like to nip the problem in the bud, so to speak."

"Right. Thus, I'm stuck in my apartment, getting stronger until… what? Do you have a list of all of the bad people in this world?"

"No, don't be stupid. I do know of a couple persons of interest-"

"Persons you could take in a fight?"

"I'm not exactly a one-on-one powerhouse. I'm more of a mobile fortress that people don't get past."

"Fine, then persons that _I_ could take in a fight?"

"Ha. Maybe in a year or two."

I grit my teeth. "At this rate."

Arthur flicked his wrist and an opaque, glowing blue barrier popped over the hallway entrance. With a snap, the other two entrances to our room were sealed in the same way. "Got a problem with training your skills in comfort and ease?"

I nodded, having made myself ready for this question. "I haven't gotten a single quest since my tutorial ended. Those are what gave me the big XP, those and hunting the big stuff. Quests are better though, I can get skill books. There and-" My eyes lit up as I realised I completely forgot about Tukson! After all the fuss I made about coming back too. I threw my arm up for the Dungeon Escape skill and with a pop we were back out front of the Temple.

"I take it you have a destination in mind?" Arthur was clearly not bothered by our abandonment of the Dungeon.

I glanced up at the sky. Still a few hours until dark. "Ever been to Tukson's?"

"Never. Where is it?"

I put my hand on my scruffy face, scratching the itch. "I don't actually know. Apparently I need to unlock more skills before I get my map back."

He sighed, then closed his helmet. After a few seconds, it slid back. "You can follow me, or do that gravity thing you do and I'll carry you."

I considered asking how he suddenly knew where to go. "Do you know what a catapult is?" I said instead.

He scoffed. "Mate, walking is easier than building a…" He narrowed his eyes, checking me over to see if I was being serious. He appeared to think for a moment before giving a shrug.

"How long does that lightweight skill last for?"

"3 seconds."

"How light do you get?"

"The skill says I lose 95% of mass."

He shook his head then grabbed me by somewhere on the back of my armor. "As soon as your feet leave the ground, use your skill, got it? Not a second sooner or later."

Doubts began to arise but were quickly quelled. There was no way I would die from an impact, not with the amount of HP and AP I had available. Besides, maybe I would get a Fall Resistance skill.

"Ready."

He grinned and flipped his visor down. From this distance I could hear something faint coming from his helmet.

" _After burners engaged in 3...2...1...Firing."_

I barely managed to fire off Featherweight before it felt like every drop of blood in my body shot to my feet and we were suddenly shooting towards the clouds at an alarming rate. The forest shrank beneath us in moments and just as it started, I stopped accelerating right when the skill cut out and I started soaring through the air. Arthur pulled up beside me and spoke through his suit.

"Don't use it again!"

I blanched but the Gamer's Mind took away the fear and replaced it. With what, I don't know. I did know that the view of the city was absolutely stunning. The rain had stopped, though clouds still covered the sky for the most part. I realised something with a grim chuckle that was taken from my lips by the wind; Beacon was one of the few places that went unshrouded.

I began to fall towards the city.

Arthur flew beside me, tracking my progress. The ground rushed up at me, too fast for me to make out any details, and I was about to activate Featherweight when a curved blue slide appeared right in the middle of the street. I hit it shoulder first and tumbled down, remarking at how slippery it was, before the slide went straight up again and I was airborne, but not nearly as high. Or as fast.

I let out a whoop of joy. That had been _incredible_. I had never moved that quick. I used Featherweight at the top of my arc and floated down while Arthur Polendina landed. "That was _incredible!"_

"Yep." He replied. "Here's your stop, thank you for flying Air Arthur and have a wonderful day."

"You going somewhere?"

"Business to take care of. I can't just gallivant around with you all day, I've got a company to run, headmasters to appease, that sort of thing. You'll manage. I'll bring by a few movies for you to watch tomorrow." Once more, that was that as he shot into the sky.

I took a glance around to take my bearings and darted to the side as I realized I was holding up traffic. The drivers had just been waiting patiently. I guess that Arthur's lenience as a known Huntsman extended to me as well.

I then glanced across the street and realized I had gone to the wrong side for Tukson's. With a grumble I waited for the cars to finish passing by, then got impatient and crossed it my way. I jumped straight up, above the cars, and Shouted.

" _Wuld!"_

Part of my felt cheapened by using the Thu'um to cross the street. I got over it as I walked up to the book store.

"Closed?"

I shrugged. Nothing I could do about that. I knew I could find my apartment from the roof tops, so I made to jump up when a television screen from the next shop over caught my eye. It showed a pair of Hunters in furious battle, then it cut to clips of teams.

I walked into the other store, curious.

There was fast, heavy music coming from the various screens displayed throughout the store.

"Get ready for this year's Vytal Tournament! Huntsmen and Huntresses from around the world to take home the Vytal Cup for their academy, in exciting head-to-head combat! Tickets on sale January 4th!" The commercial cut to black and I decided I wanted tickets before the screen came back alive with the same music, but faded and in the background. Pyrrha Nikos was on the screen. She looked forlorn.

"Beacon Academy is excited to announce a new measure that allows civilians or military members to put together a team to be entered in the tournament. Entries must be 21 years of age or less. One team from each Kingdom will be allowed to enter, with the Ruling Parties of each Kingdom having final say over the team." She gulped. "The Faunus are permitted to field a team as well."

I heard a smash from behind me, and saw one of the TV's had been punched through. An angry man with a reptile's tail was storming out of the building. I had a brief inclination towards following him, but a quest screen popped up:

 **[Quest Alert:] Tournament Of Heroes! (Civilians!)**

 **You have learned about the Vytal Festival, and have decided you want a slice of the pie! Fight your way through the preliminaries to earn a spot on the team!**

 **[Main Objective:]**

 **-Compete in the Vale Martial Combat Tournament**

 **[Side Objectives:]**

 **-Win First Place**

 **-Remain Anonymous**

 **-?**

 **[Reward:] 10,000 Lien, 50,000XP, 1 Ticket of Participation for the Vytal Tournament**

 **[Failure:] Depends upon time and cause of failure.**

 **Accept? [Yes] [No]**

I resolved to find out the date of the preliminaries and hit yes regardless. I turned to leave, realizing that my own TV was probably in my apartment by now. I made it only one step out to door before a black and white blur landed in front of me, pausing just long enough for her to see my face and me to see hers. My mask hid nothing, not from her.

Blake apparently had better things to do, as she sped off down the street, not bothering to watch for traffic as she jumped from car roof to car roof. I figured my assumption was correct when a barely shirted kid and a giant robot moving many times the rate of a Centurion sped by after her.

 **[Quest Alert:] Painting the Town!**

 **Something crazy just happened and you have no idea what. Find out!.**

 **[Main Objective:]Investigate**

 **[Reward:] 10,000XP**

 **[Failure:] REP-, 100XP, 1L**

 **Accept? [Yes] [No]**

I hit accept once more as I raced after them.

I quickly realized I was too slow to keep up to them. I went through my scroll, looking for numbers. Richard was the first to come to mind, but it had been difficult for him to get out when he was _supposed_ to ferry me around. Arthur had just left, Mirian scared me as much as I hated to admit it, and I didn't know anybody else fast enough that could get me there.

I tapped a name and sighed, having not been looking forward to this.

"Kinda busy right now!" The young voice of Ruby Rose shouted through the speaker.

"Ruby, it's me. Blake's in trouble and I can't catch up. You've gotta call Oz, or something. This thing looks big."

There was a pause. "Torga?"

"Yes Ruby."

"You're alive?! You're _here?_ "

"Ruby, stay focused. You need to help Blake."

"What do you think we're doing? Look, we have this covered. I'll call you after." She proceeded to hang up on me. There went my plan to ask her sister for a ride.

I glanced at the traffic moving by. Maybe if I asked nicely, one of the civilians would take me after them? Not much use, considering they were long gone.

I sighed, then hopped up to the roof, sliding slightly on the icy surface. Time to make my way home, I guess.

A loud crash sounded to the south. I estimated the distance to be about 5 blocks or so.

Thinking back on how I had gotten here, an idea clicked into my head. I liked to believe it was thanks to my increased wisdom, but it also could have been due to sheer boredom. Or stupidity.

I clenched a Red Dust crystal between my teeth, un-equipped my gauntlets for a bit of extra control, then cast Featherweight and two Flamethrowers at the same time. The result was me slowly, very slowly but surely leaving the ground. My AP was dropping at a fairly quick rate. I guessed it would last about 30 seconds. My dust battery would last around a minute at this rate, so I dropped the crystal out of my mouth and back into my inventory, and released my Flamethrowers for a second to charge back the AP I had spent.

What I really needed was a skill that worked opposite to conversion to let me turn HP into AP. Or for that matter, one that would let me use HP directly would be fantastic. This time with a running start, I jumped up into the air off the edge of the roof, firing the Flamethrowers. It was a lot more difficult to remain upright while I was moving, but I did have a bit of practice keeping steady while using Featherweight so I made it to the next roof, one a few stories higher. From here I could see a raised intersection with an unnatural fog beneath it. Lasers pointed through and out of the fog, and I could hear the reports of weapons.

I briefly realized that my first Zweihander would have made this trip simple, I could have just swung from building to building. Property damage wasn't an issue at this point, I had already left a scorched rooftop behind me. Instead, I made another running jump, pointed my 5% mass self towards the battle, and used Whirlwind Sprint while under Featherweight for the first time. I used only two words, but the effect was astronomical. In the time I had taken to Shout I was a quarter there, a distance I had guessed was around a kilometre. I fired the Flamethrowers to try and slow myself down but the effect was almost negligible as I hurtled towards the highway.

Figuring I had less than three seconds left before impact, I used my thoughts to place one of my remaining shout points.

" _Feim!"_

I breathed a sigh of relief as I hit the overpass, cracking the side of it to pieces. Becoming Ethereal was an odd experience. It was as if I and my body became separated for a brief moment. The imprint of my body takes the damage of my body while I still control it, then when I come back, I bring my body with me. The body I separated from. It doesn't make much sense and so I don't use it often, but moments like this it's a life-saver. It even held up as I fell through the mist and hit the ground. I put my gauntlets back on, then lay there as I heard gunshots around me and I still couldn't see. I was content to wait, even as my Shout's effect faded.

That is, until I was hit in the dragon with a missile. The detonation sent me flying, smashing into a building with enough force to crater the solid stone wall. That impact was nothing compared to the pain that an explosion between my legs had caused, and even though the Gamer's Body prevented any real damage, my AP had been completely drained and about a third of my HP had gone with it. On the plus side, the explosion had cleared away most of the fog.

Clearly I had missed something while I was trying to get here, because now Yang and the white one were here, and so were two more mechs. Ruby shouted out a command, and as her team leapt into action, I made an observation of the situation.

 **Roman Torchwick**

 **LVL 68**

 **The Red Pawn**

 **White Fang Paladin**

 **LVL 70**

 **White Fang Paladin**

 **LVL70**

 **Ruby Rose**

 **LVL66**

 **Yang Xiao-Long**

 **LVL64**

 **Blake Belladonna**

 **LVL59**

 **Weiss Schnee**

 **LVL58**

I felt kind of inadequate but as one of the White Fang Paladins turned towards me, I pried myself out of the wall. I had no option but to fight. Now, these things looked similar to Dwarven Centurions, but were faster, stronger, and could shoot missiles and guns.

My usual strategy for taking one of those monsters on is to stay as close as I can while hacking at the legs until it becomes immobile, then getting a mage to cook it, or setting it alight with Fire Breath. Eventually the metal would weaken to the point where we could destroy the soul gem and dynamo to keep it from repairing. So, I guess I could try the same here. Or I could see how much stronger _I_ was. I yanked my shield out of my inventory, leaving my other hand free to grab a weapon or use a skill as needed.

The robot took a lower stance and another missile streaked out of it. It was much too fast to dodge, too fast to block if I hadn't been ready for it. As it was, I planted my shoulder against the back of the shield, leaned into the impact, and felt a crack as my shoulder was briefly dislocated, and then… it wasn't. The resulting ball of fire streaked around me, but thanks to Aura Enhancement, my shield wasn't damaged. My AP was depleted again, and a chunk of my health taken, but the health was shooting back up to the top by the second. By my estimate, I could take about 1 missile every… 2 minutes? Looking back at RWBY and their explosive battle, I realized I probably wouldn't have that long.

The Paladin dropped, firing another missile but I wasn't there anymore. A whirlwind sprint had brought me closer on an angle, and I pulled out a basic warhammer in one hand and a Super Red Dust Crystal in the other. The Crystal went into a mount on the head of the hammer and got locked in. I had made this, and had 3 in my inventory. I figured that sometimes the best way to use dust is to bludgeon something with it until it breaks and releases all the pent up energy.

In this case, it took me one hit, before the robot's leg flew off in a violent flurry of metal. It toppled to the side, even as it spun up a machine gun. I jumped off to the side, dropping the now-useless handle as I went. I barely stayed ahead of the bullets, and eventually the stream of projectiles caught up with me. The first didn't move me much, but the next few shredded the rest of my pitiful AP. I yelled out as white-hot pain tore through my abdomen and I felt the _incredibly_ disturbing sensation of my body exploding in gore before I was moving the other direction to escape the bullets. My throat hurt from my shout of pain

I glanced at my health and considered running away from a fight for the first time since I picked up my axe and walked over to Bleak Falls. It was under a quarter. The Paladin I fought lined up a missile, just as cold and lifeless as a Centurion. The missing leg didn't seem to hamper it.

I flashed through menus, placing my last shout point. As the _whoosh_ of the missiles rocket igniting cut through the sound of honking horns, police sirens, and crumbling concrete, my Shout cut through as an opposing force.

" _Tiik!"_

Time crawled to a halt as I tore out from behind the pillar, well aware of how little actual time I had. I hit the missile with an Air Slash as I sprinted toward the fallen Paladin. I hadn't been paying enough attention as the other leapt over my target, fist cocked back to punch me. My shield went up as I spun low, barely redirecting the fist and slipping underneath the airborne robot. Time cut back to normal so I leaped at the grounded robot, yanking another hammer out of my inventory. This one I just covered with Aura Enhancement and smacked it in the face.

It didn't do much but it did put a crack in the armor, which was all I needed. Time to fight it like a Centurion. I placed my right arm over the crack and unleashed a Flamethrower.

I was shocked by a pained scream that came from inside the robot. Shocked enough to jump back. A good thing too, as the second Paladin had leapt again and hit the ground where I had been. It proceeded to tear the front of the other Paladin off as I chugged back my one Health Potion. My health went up by a sliver and I frowned. That barely did anything.

Then the screaming got louder as a flaming figure crawled out of the smoking Paladin and began frantically rolling across the ground. The fighting seemed to stop, for me at least. RWBY was still taking on that other Paladin.

As the man's screams faded and his rolling turned to flailing and then twitching, the remaining Paladin turned towards me and the white lights on its… cockpit? The lights turned red and a plume of steam began shooting out of the back of it.

 **You have levelled up! You have levelled up! You have levelled up!**

I felt slightly guilty for this kill. Yes, I had burned people with dragonfire before but that was quick, not full of suffering.

I readied myself and my shield as one of the mech's arms morphed from a fist into a sword. I yanked Boar's Tooth out of my inventory. It began stomping slowly towards me, and I began my own slow approach.

At least this guy had an appreciation for battle etiquette. I would be the first to abandon it if it would mean survival, but some parts were just too great to pass up. The slow charge, for example. The amount of people that pull this off and survive is cut in half every time, so if you survive three you are considered an expert in the move. I was beyond an expert at this point.

Surprisingly enough, of all the possible moves, when the robot got to its top speed, it jumped again. Whoever was driving this thing really seemed to enjoy taking it off the ground. I slid to a stop before where I figured it would land, and prepared to shed the attack with my shield. I was surprised when it tucked in and flipped, launching an overhead kick at me. I barely had time to step aside and I still had to parry the lightning-fast kick away with my shield. It ended up missing, but the impact still lifted me off the ground. I fired off Featherweight, glad that I had gotten it's AP cost down so much by training it.

I dug my sword into a pillar as I flew by, dropping it as the mech crashed through the support. I bashed it with my shield but the attack didn't do that much without the help of my skills. The Paladin responded by punching my shield which sent me sliding back, thankfully on the ground this time. By the time I ground to a halt, it had stricken again with its sword and pushed me into the air. I rotated my shield between it and myself in a move I had seen Pyrrha pull off once. I didn't quite make it all the way around, but the size of my shield negated most of my failure.

A punch smashed me back, though I was able to get my feet beneath me in the air and land gracefully enough. At the angle I was at, I could see Ruby and Blake tearing their opponent to shreds in a blindingly fast coordinated attack. That was all I had time to see before the robot was almost upon me again. I gritted my teeth and used what AP I had regenerated, kicking the ground with my back foot. I was out of AP, but as the fist flew, I threw out my shield with all the force I could muster. The result was me being able to transfer the energy of the hit into the earth.

The pavement cracked, but I didn't move. My HP had gone slightly down, but I was up to about half now from my regeneration. My other hand longed to lop off the offending arm. Instead. I spoke.

"You have one chance to get out of the suit."

"Why would I do that?" A voice similar to Arthur's came out, but more distorted. I guess the Huntsman's suit was better even if it was much smaller.

"Because if you don't you're going to end up like him." I gestured towards his buddy. "Or him." Roman Torchwick seemed to be missing an arm on his suit and as I watched, Yang began _punching the shit out of the robot_ with absolutely perfect timing. "But if you do get out, I'm just going to let them ask you a few questions then you can be on your way back to wherever it is you White Fang type hide out. Hell, if you make this easy on me I'll even throw some gold your way."

"Let me see…. No."

"Figured." Regardless, Roman had literally been punched out of his mech at this point, leaving me the sole fighter. I was still locked with my Paladin shield against fist.

As he (or she, I really didn't know) raised his sword for a strike, I dropped my shield and grabbed the fist, yanking it towards me with all my might as I grinned and struck the poor fellow with Unrelenting Force. The Paladin flew upwards, striking the bottom of an overpass and continuing through. My aim was apparently much better than I thought, as I had to get up and run out of the way as it came back down in the same spot. Upon hitting the ground, it burst apart into many pieces. Unfortunately, so did the man inside.

 **You have levelled up! You have levelled up!**

I frowned at yet _another_ White Fang member that didn't have their Aura unlocked. These people would be fighting. There's people with Aura within the organization that _could_ unlock it, but don't.

 _Why?_

"You!" Weiss, surprisingly, was the first to come over to me. I figured that if even Weiss recognized me, the helmet wasn't doing me much good. I took it off so I could see clearly.

I gave an apologetic glance, but that's as far as I went. "Me."

"We thought you were dead!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Ruby-"

"Hey, I just said what I saw!" Ruby cut in.

"You didn't see much."

"I saw a bunch of Grimm, and I saw you fighting, and then when I looked back you were gone. Ozpin said he had no idea where you were."

"That's the point."

"What?" Weiss cut back in. Yang and Blake were content to stand back quietly. "So you what, ran away from school and your team because you didn't want Ozpin to know what you're up to? You ran away from your _friends_?"

"Weiss, all due respect, you've never treated me with anything but disdain. You wanna pull some shit about friends, do it with someone that considers you one. Everyone else, my apologies for not letting you know I was in the city. This _does_ need to stay secret, though. " If Mirian found out that the first thing I did when I went out into the city on my own was get into a fight and tell my colleagues exactly where I lived, she would probably change me into a woman or something like that.

She huffed. "Fine. But _you_ need to tell your team or I will. Do you not remember when Blake ran away? Do you not remember how worried we _all_ were?"

I glanced over to blake but she looked away, not making eye contact. "I will. Sometime next week."

Ruby shook her head. "You can't. They leave for their first mission on Monday and they're heading out of the Kingdom."

"Sunday."

Yang raised her hand. "School dance."

"Fucking tomorrow then, Divines take you…" I muttered.

She raised her other hand. "Don't get mad at me, you're the one that bailed on everyone. Hell if you're team wasn't in that show, you could have ruined Pyrrha's career. I know Ren and Nora were heartbroken."

I felt more guilt now than if I had set ten men on fire. "Tell them… tell them if they'll see me, to go to this address tomorrow."

I sent Blake the address. She didn't know my team very well, but she could relate in some way, I could see. I could trust her not to do anything different like send Ozpin there instead. The sound of police sirens was growing louder.

"I… I've gotta go." I took a couple steps back then made sure there was open sky above me. A leap, a Featherweight, and a Whirlwind Sprint later had me soaring up towards the clouds. I picked out my apartment, picked out a high roof between myself and there, and used my Flamethrowers to get myself on the right angle.

I walked in my balcony roughly ten minutes later, unequipping my soaked boots as I stepped onto my carpet. The noise of the city faded as I slid the door shut. With the sun setting, and no lights on, my apartment felt strange and lonely.

I flicked the lights on and pulled out my scroll changing what I was wearing in favor of comfort.

My mind went to my status page, having already decided how I would be spending my points.

 **Status**

 **Name: Torga**

 **Age: 17**

 **Level: 32**

 **Race: Human**

 **Title: Dragonborn**

 **Status: Healthy**

 **XP: 51.04%**

 **HP: 3850**

 **AP: 1182**

 **STR: 28**

 **VIT: 50**

 **AGI: 19**

 **INT: 26**

 **WIS: 51**

 **LUK: 10**

 **STAT: 35**

I placed ten of those points into AGI, and the rest went into VIT. My hope was that I would heal even faster at 100, maybe even get a new skill out of it. I gained another Shout Point, but I decided to save it after seeing how useful it could be in an emergency. My main issue was how useless I was when I ran out of AP. So much of my hitting power depended on Power and Double Strike plus Aura Enhancement. I adjusted my spending to throw a few points into Strength.

I accepted the changes, this time prepared. The world again felt like it slowed down, but as I got used to it last time, so I would get used to it this time. The most noticeable difference was that I suddenly gained an inch in height, though I felt many changes happening to my insides. It felt odd.

For nearly an hour I flipped that scroll over in my hands, thinking. About what has happened to me so far since I got here. About how much I knew of the why. What was my goal at this point? Why was I brought _here_ , of all places? Could I go back, and did I want to go back?

"Nothing solved sitting here." I muttered, picking a name out of the list and pressing the 'Dial' option. It rang once before being picked up.

"Who is this?"

"Hey, Richard." I sighed, nearly at a loss for what to say. What did I call him for?

"Torga? Is that you?" He sounded angry. "You motherfucker! I got _grounded_ because you fucking decided to go fake your death? Where the hell are you?"

"I can explain everything. Maybe I can even get you in the air again. Just meet me for a drink somewhere, okay?"

The line was silent. "You're fucking buying." He spat out before hanging up. I lamented the fact that I would have to call back and ask where.

My scroll vibrated again with a message from Richard. It was a black man's middle finger, with the name of a bar and a time on it. I glanced at the clock, realizing I had only 30 minutes to make it. My scroll said it was only a 15 minute drive so I called myself a taxi and picked out a plain black long-sleeve shirt and a pair of those 'jeans'. I had yet to really get anything for clothing. A waste of inventory space when I could just have weapons.

Life's better with more weapons.

* * *

 **In case anyone is confused, time-skip. I'm trying to treat Volume 1-3 as a prologue as well. Vytal Festival Tournament with civilians? is it a power-play to remind the people why they need Hunters? Is it a trap for Torga? Maybe it's just to shake things up!**

 **This _will change things significantly in terms of canon._**

 **With the power of the Dragonborn blooming magnificently, I needed to make a few changes to the story. First, more enemies. I added a mod of the same line to my Skyrim save and it's done nothing but benefit. Second, Death. It's possible. No character is safe. Thirdly, Dust. I have a whole hierarchy of which Dust types make which dust and what effects they'll have with each skill.**

 **Finally, can someone _please_ beta-read. I'm fucking begging here. **


	19. Chapter 18: A Place to Call Base

"You're insane if you think that any of that can work." Richard finished his drink and waved to the bartender for another.

"What? All I want to do is train people to fight the Grimm instead of hide behind walls and wait for other people to make a mistake. Why is that wrong?"

He chuckled. "You don't know people. They won't want to send their sons and daughters to their deaths."

"I'm not asking for kids! I want anyone who thinks that we can push them back. How many people-" I looked around the dimly lit bar, waiting until the bartender had moved away to continue. "How many people do you think know that Hunters can unlock their Aura, make them just as capable?"

He frowned, and took a sip from his 'beer'. "Not many. So, what, you want me to come join you, is that it?"

I shook my head. "No, nothing like that. Not yet. I just want you back in the air. Do you still have a job?"

"Yea, I run radar now. It's boring as hell."

"Making decent money?"

"Why?" His features tightened. I had no clue why people here were so sensitive about their earnings.

"Maybe I'm offering a job. I need to get around, quick. I need a good pilot. I have a lot of money."

At once his attitude changed. "You have a ship? Somewhere to store it? Weapons, fuel, mechanics?"

"I have nothing yet, Richard." I admitted, opening up my inventory and taking almost all of my money out. It amounted to just over 1,000,000L. I left myself with 10,000 or so, just in case. "This is what I can give you, right now, to start setting up whatever you need." He scoffed until he saw the numbers on the cards.

"Where did you _get_ this?" He asked, picking up one of the cards with something approaching reverence. "This card alone is twice what I'll make in a year…"

"So it will buy us a Bullhead?"

He scooped the money into his bag, realizing a dodged question when he heard it. "Maybe not a Bullhead, but I'll shop around. First though, give me priorities. Heavy lifting, speed, stealth, comfort, what are you looking for?"

"Transporting small groups of people at high speed."

He nodded. "That can be covered on the commercial end so it won't raise any attention. I'm taking one of these cards for myself, though."

"Take all of it for yourself. Whatever you don't need to do your job."

He glanced at me. "What's my job?"

"Show up if I need you in a fast airship. I can't go flying around the city with trails of fire behind me, besides I want to go out Hunting."

"Outside the walls?" He pulled out his scroll and started flying through pages. "That may require some aftermarket modification which will be pricey. Are you pulling in this kind of money regularly?"

"Not regularly, more along the lines of contracts with large payouts?" I attempted to explain over my drink and we continued to talk. Eventually the conversation fell away and Richard put away his scroll, saying he'd get back to me when he had found a place to store the yet to be bought ship. He left and I waited a couple minutes before calling a cab on my scroll. Time to head home.

My night was spent training Flamethrower, Dust Battery, Conversion, and Featherweight. After my first attempt using Flamethrower on myself, I quickly moved my training up to the roof of my building. With every level it gained, the flames got more intense, and I didn't want to set my building on fire.

When the sun started peeking up, I made my way inside. A long shower under the luxury of a massaging showerhead was something I had begun doing in the mornings, and I made no exception today. That finished, I dressed and sat at my kitchen table. My team would hopefully be coming by at some point today. I sighed and tried to think of what I would say, before quickly opting for the majority of the truth.

I would stress the need for secrecy, of course, though with RWBY being such a high-profile team and my own… Wait, I thought they would get kicked out without 4 people? Something to ask about later.

I opened up my refrigerator and saw absolutely nothing but a harsh white and empty shelves. Something else I would need to do later. I didn't need to eat but good food was still enjoyable.

For now, I looked over what Arthur had insisted I get. I was pretty surprised when I had seen it last night but my mind had been busy on other things. There was a large screen hanging on the wall in my bedroom, with a couch facing it. A small, knee height table sat between the two which I wondered how anyone would use such a thing until I sank myself into the couch and realized it was at a perfect height.

On the table was a black cylinder with a blinking green light on it, and a folder. Inside said folder, was a handwritten note.

 _Dear ViralAudio &Video Customer!_

 _Congratulations on purchasing the Smart Home Theater Setup! Technicians completed the installation of your entertainment system at approximately 4PM on the day of ordering._

 _Attached is a copy of all warranty and customer safety information included with the system. Please note that if you have any troubles, you can request a service call at .www._

 _Thank you for your purchase, and enjoy!_

 _Tom McGreenridge, CEO_

 _P.S. To start, just say "I'm home."_

The rest of the papers were full of tiny print and confusing pictures I didn't quite understand so I stuffed it all back into the folder and cleared my throat.

"I'm home." I said, the words leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. My lights flicked off, then slowly brightened as a droning sound came from seemingly everywhere, in a full range of sound that harmonized inside of me. I actually smiled. This was quite a bit more interesting than I had thought.

The screen flashed to life with an absolutely gorgeous shot of a crystal-clear waterfall in a vibrant jungle teeming with life. I could hear the insects buzzing around me. I sat enraptured as it cut to a desert with a lone man walking along the top of a dune in stark contrast to the bright sun behind him. Again, the sounds of swirling sand and howling wind had me enthralled and I looked around to see that my lights had changed colour, matching the bottom half of my room with the colour of the sand and the top half the colour of the sky. As my eyes flicked back to the screen in wonder, the scene changed once more.

A Hunter, or what I had taken for the public depiction of a Hunter, battled the a massive Goliath. The fight went on for thirty seconds, and I almost congratulated the shadowy, featureless man on his triumphant victory before he faded into dust that reformed into the letters VAV. The droning sound that I had barely noticed throughout cut off abruptly, and a female voice came from my screen, accompanied by a blob that pulsed when she spoke.

"Welcome home, sir. What would you like to do?"

"What _can_ I do?"

"The current activities you have available are: Watch TV, Watch Movie, Play Scroll Games, Play Music, Set Lighting, Set Alarm, Program Smart Settings, Help."

I put my hand on my chin, scratching the small length of stubble I'd managed to grow. "Play Music?"

"What would you like to hear?" The voice called back.

"No electronic stuff. It doesn't sound real."

"Playing a list of classical hits."

The distorted sounds of a guitar came through my speakers, way too loudly. "Turn it off!"

The sound cut. "Make it quieter. And didn't I say no electronic stuff?"

The green light on the cylinder flashed blue, ten back to green. "Sorry sir, playing historical hits."

Another guitar sounded but less distorted, and playing in a much calmer manner. With a pang I wished I had some mead and was sitting in a smoky tavern. Then some baby-voiced dunce had to ruin it with their crooning.

"Close. Like that, but without the singing."

"Got it nailed, sir." The voice replied as the song stopped once more. "Playing instrumental historical music."

I sat and listened to that for about a good half hour. Like all good things, though, it was cut short. A knock sounded on my door. I raised an eyebrow as a camera showed my door from the hallway, popping up in the corner of my screen. Now _that_ was pretty amazing.

Standing in the hallway were Pyrrha and Nora. Lie Ren was notably absent. I sighed. "Turn it all off." I said, standing. The TV, audio, and lights all clicked off, and my blinds started closing themselves. "No, not the lights! And open the windows back up. Yeesh."

I took another deep breath before steeling my jaw and loosening my neck; I opened the door. As I predicted, a fist soared through and cracked me in the jaw, courtesy of Pyrrha. I didn't react to it, besides for my head inevitably snapping to the side. I turned to Nora, mildly afraid that she wouldn't hold back as much as Pyrrha had, but instead of a bone-crushing attack I got a equally ferocious hug. She lifted me off the ground and I felt a couple of bones in my back pop. I genuinely laughed and hugged her back for a second before pushing her off. She gave me a half-hearted punch in the shoulder.

"Ren told me to pass that along." She said flatly. "He's not too thrilled. He was probably the most upset, you know?"

Pyrrha, eyes ringed with dark circles that told me she hadn't been sleeping well, stormed past me into my apartment. I stepped aside and gestured Nora in, and within an instant she had come directly to my empty fridge and was looking at the inside in shock. Her face was slowly turning sad.

I was about to suggest grocery shopping but then realized I had given Richard almost all of my money. 10,000 L would be enough for meals for me and Pyrrha for the day, assuming they stuck around that long, but Nora was a bottomless pit.

Speaking of the Imperial-themed woman, she was looking out my balcony window. I didn't know specifically at what, but I assumed it was Beacon tower in the distance. "Why?" She spoke softly.

I moved over to the window as Nora continued poking around my kitchen. "I didn't have much of a choice."

"You said there's always a choice." She shot back.

I was silent for a few seconds. "There is."

"You chose to leave us."

"I chose to ask questions that nobody thinks of asking. The consequences of that choice were a bit… exaggerated. I wasn't prepared."

She took her turn to be silent. "Is somebody after you?"

"Depending on who you ask, _every_ body is after me." I replied.

"Well, I know Diana wants to kick your butt if she ever finds you." She sounded hesitant, but I forced a chuckle. She seemed to take my laughter as a cue and let herself smile a bit.

"Yea, she's understandable. I don't care about her, though. Where's Ren?"

She frowned. "He came with us to town. He… _ugh_ boys can be so stupid!"

"What?"

"He wants an apology." She looked away, as if scared that would offend me. Nora was just sitting on my bed, watching to proceedings. Apparently her hunger could be kept in check if the situation was serious enough. "He wants an apology, or he wants you to leave the city before he tells Ozpin where you are."

I rolled my eyes as I turned back to Nora. "Why do you think I invited everyone? Where is he?"

The balcony door slid open and in he walked. I frowned, before getting over it. "Hey." I started.

He stared silently. He looked angry, but also… hurt.

"Okay, we're going to do it this way, wonderful… I'll give you the short version and you can ask questions at the end. Let's take a seat, shall we?" I gestured to the couch as I pulled over the chairs from the kitchen table so we could all sit.

I told them I had been going Hunting. I told them about the attack on the gate, I told them about the plan to let the children die, and I told them how me and Ruby held off the Grimm long enough to get the kids to safety. I told them I was pulled out by Jak's old team, because Ozpin had allegedly decided to use the opportunity to get rid of me. I told them that I needed to be kept secret because people thought I would become an evil version of Jak or something, and how I was training in preparation to take on the Grimm on a serious level.

"So what are we doing at school then?" Lie Ren said.

"I can get stronger in one day fighting Grimm than a week at school. That's part of the reason I didn't go back other than, you know, the apparent Headmaster wanting me dead." I answered. "I'm sorry. I can't go back."

"He didn't _ask_ what you were doing here. You already told us." Pyrrha in a very uncharacteristic type of way. "He _asked_ what we're still doing at the school .You said you would include us. Then you went out Hunting, alone. Now you're getting stronger, alone. Just going to leave us behind on your climb to the top?"

My eyes widened and I looked at Nora. She was also being very odd from what I knew of her, looking down. Pyrrha stayed Pyrrha, though the idea that her team was crumbling around her seemed to crack her tough visage just a little.

"That wasn't my plan, I just thought-" I started.

"No!" The redheaded warrior got herself together quick. "Stop thinking, just ask."

"What?!" I shouted. "What do you want me to ask? I can't ask you to follow me! I don't eat, I don't sleep, I don't have room for you guys and I-"

My scroll buzzed. It was Richard. "Hold on, sorry guys."

I stepped out onto the balcony.

"Richard, what's up, I'm kind of busy."

"Well get _un-_ busy, dumbfuck! I found us a place but we have to go _fast_ , you hear me? Like, now! Where are you, I'm on my way!"

"I'm at the apartments on the corner of Main and 7th." I replied, scanning the street below. "What's the big rush?"

"Just get to the roof!" With that, he hung up.

I sighed again as I opened the balcony door. I took a step inside before I did a double-take and saw a black duffel-bag on my balcony that definitely wasn't there last night. It was large, bulgy, and when I grabbed the handle, ridiculously heavy.

I lugged it inside with me and Ren had the decency to look sheepish. All he got from me was a raised eyebrow and I almost dumped the contents on the floor before I saw what was inside.

I pulled out a pink grenade launcher. "Magnhild? Expecting a fight, Nora?"

Her brief stint of looking sullen disappeared. "When can't I around you?" She challenged.

Everyone had their weapons in the bag which I let them grab on their own. Pyrrha pulled out a long cloth bundle for me which had me surprised.

"What is this?"

"Open it."

I grabbed the significant weight, realizing that this was what had weighed down the bag. It was a sword, quite similar to the one I had woken up with. There were three buttons on the handle, and it looked like it was attached to a shield-sheath. I drew the sword and the first button did nothing. The second extended it a slight amount and small, razor edges came out the sides making it serrated. The third shifted it back, then the center fired out into my ceiling. It dug in there.

"Top button." Pyrrha giggled, and I grinned. She had smiled, I was officially off the hook with her.

I hit the first button again and the sword retracted. I put it back into the sheath. "This is awesome." I said simply. "Thank you. Where did you get it?"

"Ruby and Pyrrha were up literally all night finishing it for you." Ren informed me. "And you aren't done yet. Try those buttons again. When it's in the sheath, each button is a toggle. First is length, second is range, third is form."

I was confused so as he suggested I tried it out. Pressing the first button led to a delightful change. The edge doubled in length, as did the handle. I gave it a few waves, not having the room to swing it properly inside, but I could tell it had the balance nearer to the handle to make for easier and quicker maneuvers. I could appreciate that.

The second button folded the tip of the sword back in four directions, leaving me with an odd mace-head at the end. A gun barrel poked out the end. A trigger had folder out and the handle had curved. It would be more difficult to fight in close this way, but if had a feeling I would get the hang of switching the forms with practice.

I pressed the third button, and the blade of the sword appeared to slide up the edge, gathering into an axe-head.

It took me a couple tries but I discovered a short axe that couldn't use bullets, a short rifle form, and a spear form that occured when I used the form toggle on long mode without the gun activated. The ammunition went into the handle, but there was no spot for Dust. I could achieve most of the same effects with Aura Enhancement, but still.

"This is… incredible." I replied, setting the weapon down. I didn't want to use Observe on it until I had a name for it. This was definitely a weapon that needed a name. I walked up to Pyrrha and looked her directly in her green eyes. "Thank you, Pyrrha."

"Ruby's the one you should thank, she's been working on this since you left. I think you underestimate the effect you have on people."

"Maybe I do." I replied. "Look, I'd love to offer you guys breakfast but there's something that I've gotta go do and I don't have food anyways so… Thank you for coming, and you're all wel-"

Pyrrha slapped me. "You dumbass." she swore. "We're coming with. How many times do we have to say it, hm?"

"I didn't bring my hammer for _nothing!_ " Nora shouted.

I chuckled, relented, and led them up to the roof, locking my place behind me. It hadn't started raining yet but the wind was still chilly. Nobody else besides for me appeared to be cold, then I remembered they keep their Aura on all the time.

Within a couple of minutes, a sleek air-car came screaming out of the sky, covered in stickers and painted in vibrant colours. It spun into a frantic descent and pulled up less than a foot from the roof. I gaped at the sheer speed and danger, along with the grace with which it was executed. Landing gear popped out and the engines shut off, all in a smooth motion, as Richard opened the hatch and jumped out.

"Eh? What do you think?" He sounded incredibly proud of himself.

"It's quick." I admitted. "But very noticeable."

"I know." His giddy expression left his face and he began trying to sell it to me. No need, considering I assumed he already bought it. "I got it for 120,000L, and the modifications to the engine _alone_ are worth double that. We can clean it, repaint it, fit it with our own mods even! Vicky here was a real popular model in Atlas around 25 years ago, and they shipped them everywhere. We can find parts for cheap, we can blend in, and it's incredibly easy to modify. It was _built_ for it. The model was originally for the Atlesian military for a multi-role craft, but the Bullhead won out. This is a civilian model that AtlesiaTech adapted to make use of the manufacturing facilities but get this, the only differences from the original military concept are armor plating, the engine, and a radar system. The last owner already beefed up the engine, and armor plating is easy to weld on. Radar might be an issue but we can buy one with the 800,000L I have left."

He looked smug still, and I do have to admit he saved a _lot_ of my money. "What about the other 80 thousand?"

"My paycheck." He sounded nervous.

"I'm paying you 80 thousand a day?"

He shook his head frantically. "No, no, not a chance. I was thinking this would last me for the first two months or so. My kid needs braces and that isn't cheap."

"I have no idea what braces are, but take 100,000 a month." I replied. I got about 2000L for every hour spent in Forever Fall killing skeletons. I could afford to pay a friend. That was only about a week of skeleton killing.

He took it in stride, handing back the rest of the money and looking over my companions . "Good to see you all again. What's the occasion, other than dunce over here not being as dead as they said he was?"

"You tell me." I shot back before anyone could get a jab in. "You're the one that said we had to go ' _right now'."_

He appeared to remember in an instant and shooed us into the back. "We have to ride seperate but there's an intercom. I'll explain on the way."

 _Vicky,_ or the AtlesiaTech MR-380 'Venerable Condor' Multi-Role Aerospace Superiority Ship, was quite different looking from a Bullhead, and Richard gave us the exact differences during the flight.

"The 380 should have been used over the Bullhead, I've said it for years." A crackling voice came from the roof as Len pulled the door closed. It was louder in the cabin than a Bullhead was and I had to strain to pick out Richard's words. "It's faster, more maneuverable. That's what we need against the Grimm, not giant floating targets. Bullheads work great for ground targets, but I bet if we throw even a semi-decent gun on this thing I'll out-fly anything."

"Can you hear us?" I shouted back.

"Shitty intercom if I couldn't! Anyways, once we get some armor on and it fitted with guns, it won't be able to be as discreet. Keeping it somewhere hidden will be necessary. Flying around, not so much. If I were a gambler, I'd put money on us out-running anything that sees us, so we don't have to worry. We've got a dedicated forward thrust engine that's beefed up to shit, and four vectored mini-turbines for maneuverability. I'm guessing you noticed how short the wings are?"

I glanced out the window and saw that while the engine wasn't screaming like it did under high stress, we were still going much faster than I had ever been on a Bullhead. The wings were also indeed shorter, and lacked the engines on the end.

"That's because when AtlesiaTech made Vicky, they first made a massive amount of a special alloy that had very trace amounts of Gravity Dust. The result was a lighter frame, meaning our ventral mini-turbines provide more than enough lift at stationary, even with a full cabin. You aren't going to be lifting anything, though."

The interior was much nicer, too. There were 6 seats, three on each side facing each other. They were made of an old looking leather. I took a seat, surprised at the comfort. Ren and Nora sat opposite and Pyrrha next to me as we listened.

"Anyways, because of that, we can't throw too much armor on unless we beef up the mini-turbines as well. Same goes for any heavy weaponry. Ideally we'd set it up with a missile rack and a decent ROF gun, but it's hard to just _buy_ missiles. I was thinking something along the lines of an energy weapon, leaves no ammunition to be tracked if you can get some Ice Dust for the cooling array, and would last longer on a mission."

"Maybe. We'll see. Where are we going?" I asked, waiting to hear what I really wanted to know.

"Right, so my cousin's friend ran a small air-car taxi service and he's had to close down with those new self-driving ground-cars taking all the business. He's auctioning off everything privately, and we need to get that garage. All the stuff in it is being sold as we speak, which is why we're going _now_ before he sells to someone else."

"What the hell?" I was mildly upset that people like this were here too, not just in Skyrim. No sense of merchant's honor, just sell to whoever pays you the most, regardless of if you've already sold an item to somebody else. Despicable. "Alright, let's go. Will we have enough for a building?"

"That's why I had to bring _you_. We will, but not if somebody outbids us. So, you show up and make people decide they don't want to bid against you."

"So I'm taking over the building?" I asked, happy again. Jorrvaskr vol. 2, here we come.

"Well, yes? But it will be entirely legal if you don't threaten or attack anybody."

"And if I do?"

"You won't." Pyrrha replied with a glare. I didn't respond to her, waiting for my pilot instead.

He spoke soon enough. "Investigation on you starts, more people are mad at you, and the police show after, Huntsmen."

"Fine, no threatening people or attacking them. What can I do?"

Richard grinned. "Well, there's not many people there, and there's one guy buying most of the stuff. I figure if you deal with him, you've got it nailed."

-.-.-.-

"1001L." I replied calmly. This was incredibly fun. I'd shown up halfway through, and Richard had come in with me. My team was dressed in very conspicuous gear, and we didn't want to leave my new ship alone.

Dr. Rockfell was livid. I had been doing this for the past hour, and from the way he kept glancing at his watch I could tell he had somewhere to be. Luckily, I didn't. We were currently bidding on a desk. I had originally been incredibly confused but Richard had talked me through the first item and now it was in my territory: intimidation and messing with people's heads. He was a heavier man in a suit, clever, but quick to frustrate, thank Divines.

"Two thousand Lien!" The doctor shouted, glaring at me triumphantly. I glanced at the desk. Richard had already searched up the value, it was around 1500L. I pretended to value it for a second.

"2001L." I replied, just as calmly.

I drove the price of the desk up to 10,000L, many times the original price. I didn't even want it, and Richard looked at me like I was stupid. I did get it though. I did the same thing when the car-lift was being sold. That was much more expensive. It was valued at around 50,000L. I paid 150,000L. Richard looked ready to hit me.

Then, after much more waiting during which I didn't bid on a thing but watched Dr. Rockfell fight this blue-collar man for every small item, it came the time.

"Finally," the greasy, skinny man running the auction began, "The deed for this property. Bidding begins at 100,000L!"

The doctor called out, bidding. I stood, making quite the scene in the audience and distracting them from Richard, who stood off to the side. I had sat patiently until now, but the move was to be made. I paced directly over to the doctor, stood between him and the stage where the auctioneer was, looked him dead in the eye, then bid.

"Half a million Lien." I said calmly and flatly. The doctor went to raise his paddle. I leaned in. "I will make you spend every single bit of wealth you own. I will outbid you until you drop from exhaustion of raising that paddle. Then, on your last bid, when you've thrown much more on the table than you ever had and ever could make, I'll stop. You will get the building, For a bit, until you have to sell it to take a drop out of the ocean that will be your debt. Or, you give it to me, I'll rent out half of it to you for whatever you were going to use it for."

"I need the whole thing."

"I don't, but I still need it." I answered back.

He frowned, raising his paddle slowly as he stared right back at me.

"600 thousand."

"1 million Lien." I replied, actively trying to keep calm as the stare-down continued. His paddle twitched. "Actually, you know what?" I interrupted. "10 million."

Doctor Rockfell actively recoiled, then tried to hide his grin. He probably though I knew nothing about how auctions work. He probably thought that my team and I hadn't researched exactly what happens when someone doesn't have enough to pay for an item. Namely, it travels back the bidding line until _someone other than the offender_ can afford it.

"20 million." He shot back with venom, probably thinking I was ridiculously rich and I dressed the way I was for anonymity. I did nothing to dissuade him of that.

"Forty." I replied calmly.

 **The perk 'Big Spender' has been activated!**

"200 million." He growled back, daring me to take it further.

Instead, I let my facade crack, and started chuckling as I walked back to my seat, thanking the hell out of that perk I had almost forgotten about. It was done and over with, unless this random guy had 200 million to spend. I had about 6,000L on me, to be honest.

The Dr. remained stoic but I could tell as his features fell that he was realizing I had done exactly what I had told him I would. I let the auctioneer call out loudly, as if anybody would pay 200 million Lien for this dump. Hell, with that kind of money, you could buy a housing complex.

As the auctioneer realized that the doctor didn't have the money, I gave him an apologetic grin and emptied my pockets with the planned 1,000L note in it. "Sorry, guess I spent more than I thought earlier."

He turned to his page and then attempted to find someone in the crowd until Richard stepped forward for him with a 100,000L note in his hand. He had the same grin I had on.

Our plan had worked. While I distracted Dr. Rockfell, Richard had discreetly bid on the deed, being the first. As soon as I had heard that, which would be difficult if you weren't listening for it as the room was underneath a skyway and the garage was open, making it quite loud; regardless, as soon as I heard him bid, it was time to get both the Dr and myself disqualified. Because the price went up so high, nobody else bothered bidding. In fact, by this point, most of the other attendees left when they realized that Rockfell was buying everything.

The auctioneer wasn't happy either, and the previous owner of the building came over from where he stood against the back wall.

"Listen here, you can;t do that shit! This is my retirement!, that'll barely be _anything_ after greedy over here gets his hands on it!" He gestured at the oily man.

"Huh." I replied, having anticipated this too. "Fortunately, I need somebody to move that desk out of here. Could you take care of that for say... 400,000L?" The man grit his teeth in response.

"You probably don't even _have_ that money."

I held my hand out to the side and Richard pulled four cards out of his pocket, putting them in my hand with an audible and satisfying _clack_. "This money?" I couldn't stop grinning, this was working out perfectly.

The man glared at me, then did a double-take at the money. "Fuck you. I don't need your charity."

My jaw dropped. "Bitch? You storm over here because you didn't enough money and then when I try to give it to you, you insult me? Get the _fuck_ out of my building before I decide you're trespassing and _put_ you out, do you understand?"

The man began to roll up his sleeves, at which my eyes widened. Does this guy really have no sense of self-preservation?

"Listen, man with stones for brains, you're about to make a very bad decision. I'm not going to stop you from making it, I would just highly suggest you don't punch me. It will hurt. for you."

That enraged him more. He swung with all the speed of a tree growing. I didn't even bother blocking it, just letting the blow connect with my jaw. I lost 2 AP that had returned before the ex-owner was holding his left hand in pain. He yelled and swung with his right.

Richard stepped in, raising his right arm through the inside of the other guys punch and planting his palm on the back of his head. With a sharp motion and brutal crack, the man received a brutal knee to the face and dropped onto the floor. Richard dusted himself back off. "Is there going to be trouble for this?" He said almost second-hand to the auctioneer, the only other conscious person present at this point.

Richard was now holding out 500,000L for the auctioneer. We had decided before entering that we would pay 500,000L. In total we had around 150,000L after that, more than enough to start working on the ship. The greasy man took the money and sprinted out the door. We were left with an unconscious man, a bunch of business related crap, and a nice garage with a lift and plenty of tools. There was an office in the back, which was where I headed.

The room was small, a sickly fern in the corner and furniture in terrible shape. Compared to my apartment I felt like I was in the Grey Quarter again. It would have to do. Unfortunately, here it wasn't as easy to grab a few people and set up in an old temple. I'd need a lot of people to help make a coordinated effort with geography and time on my side to even consider it.

I walked back out as I heard my team entering the building. Richard was sizing up the door. "So," I spread my arms out, "What do you think?"

Nora was looking around already, poking through cupboards.

Pyrrha was just giving me one of her questioning looks. "Why did you buy this again?"

"To put my air-car in."

"Vale _does_ offer public parking."

"It's a _secret_ air-car, Ren."

"Fair point."

"Besides, if everyone and their sister is apparently looking for me, it's good to have a back-up place to go if things go south."

Thankfully they didn't point out that I didn't actually need a back-up place. I didn't need to sleep, after all. It was more… having someplace to go. Some place that was _mine._

Richard yelled something about grabbing the car, while the rest of us gathered on the relatively uncluttered side of the garage. "So." I started. "About what we were saying back at the apartment. I want to say thank you. It's nice to have those I can trust again. But you can't just quit Beacon."

"We're only there so Pyrrha can win the tournament for Vale. Professor Goodwitch might as well have said it to our face." Nora replied, kicking the dust on the floor.

Pyrrha glared at me for the briefest of moments. "Ozpin wants us to stay until the tournament is over, then attend civilian courses for the rest of the year and come back next fall."

"Does it matter?" Nora challenged. "Torga's out here getting stronger while we're ignored in Beacon. It isn't fair."

"None of this from the start has been fair." I cut in. "At Beacon, you can get the experience from trained Huntsman and Huntresses, plus the resources that come from being backed by Beacon. All I can do is take you out to fight. Grimm, dungeon monsters…"

"Stop doing that." Ren broke his silence.

"Doing what?" I asked in exasperation.

"Acting like we're not a team. It's not about what you can offer us. This isn't a job interview. This is about us coming back together and figuring out what we do. I couldn't care less for Beacon. The Huntsman were nowhere to be found when my village burned."

"I mean…"

"Nora?" She had the decency to look sheepish when Ren called her out. "So what, you can take us out fighting. Richard could probably teach us _all_ a thing or two about real-life combat, you know Pyrrha can train us for a while at least, right?"

"I have an idea." I answered, a few things clicking into place. "But it involves you guys staying for just a while longer. While you're there, if you can, pass along to the math professor that I'm still around, and that he needs to contact me from one of your scrolls. If you recall, he's not too happy with the way things are at the school and we could use his help rounding out our education if we can get him."

"Torga, you're hiring people all over the place and spending money like you can't run out. How do you plan to pay these people?" Pyrrha was the only one still looking hesitant. Nora was downright excited to be pulling some shenanigans.

"That's something I'll actually need your help with."

She crossed her arms. "You want me to pay people for you?"

I shook my head. "I want you to teach me how to unlock an Aura."

* * *

 **AN: Not much gamer stuff in this one, which is why I threw in the Stat block for y'all. Sorry about the delay, my computer charger broke, and I'm also just a lazy author. As usual, deal with it.**

 **~HHR**


	20. Chapter 19: We Are The Light

"So are we going to keep our name?"

"No." I immediately answered. "We want a complete rebrand."

I was sitting with my team around my table. It was a cloudy Sunday, but my team was being sent on a mission to shadow a Huntsman tomorrow. I would take the opportunity given to spend some time with them.

Not that I was worried at all. They were perfectly capable. I just didn't know what it was truly like far from the city.

"But I liked Juniper…" Nora pouted, but in a way I knew she was joking. Of all of them, she was surprisingly the most on board with my idea.

"Well I like Dovahdein but that doesn't make any sense here so it's also off the table." I took a sip of the hot beverage that had been bought for me. In fact, my cupboards were full and my fridge was stocked. After Richard learned of the state of my fridge, he'd insisted that I not spend another cent until I'd taken care of myself. So, Pyrrha had taken Ren and Nora grocery shopping while Richard dropped me off at my apartment with a case of beer. I wasn't the biggest fan of it, but he insisted. It was more bitter than I would like, but went down smoother than mead and left a pleasant tingling in my mouth.

The drink I had this morning was something called 'hot chocolate' which was slightly confusing to me. Was it still hot chocolate if you froze it? Regardless, it was sweet at first but I came to enjoy it as well.

"Whatever our name becomes, it needs to represent us." Ren said sombrely.

"It's gotta be cool!" Nora countered.

Pyrrha lowered her mug. "It should reflect our goals. Which are?"

"Easy." I replied, before realizing it was far from it. I wanted to get stronger and defeat the Grimm, and give others the means to fight for their own fate. Would I necessarily limit my team to those before me? I rubbed my stubble in thought. "Or not. We should keep the option open to add to our team, so I think that making something out of our initials is just short-sighted."

"Let's figure out what we're trying to do, specifically. From there, our path should be clear."

"Alright Ren, let's go for it. Our main goal is to defeat the Grimm. Anyone object?" I stated.

Silence for a brief second. "Wonderful. We're going to do that in three ways to start. We'll kill them ourselves, we'll teach others to kill them, and we'll help them kill themselves."

"Our team can't be focussed around killing." Pyrrha frowned. "I understand that it may sometimes - in incredibly _impossible_ circumstances - be necessary, but we would attract the wrong people."

"Fine, I'll reword it then. We'll defeat the Grimm by construction, instruction, and eradication. People need to know that we aren't the Hunters and Huntresses. We're people."

"But we are-"

"Nora, you know better." I scolded lightly. "What's the difference between us and civilians?"

"Training and Aura. And awesome guns." She listed off, counting each point on her finger.

"So if I can unlock a civilians Aura and give him a weapon, would he still be a Hunter if he went and trained with a tribe of bandits?"

She genuinely contemplated this as Ren stepped in for her. "It would depend on his intentions. Does he plan to use his power to help others?"

"Does it truly matter? He has all the strength and power of a Hunter, but without anyone calling him a Hunter. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"That we're nothing special." I went to counter Pyrrha but at the look in her eye as she stared into the dregs of her mug, I held myself in check. She had more to say, as much to herself as to us. The room filled with her ruminations.

"As people, we are. Each of us has a story, some of us two." She glanced at me for that one, but continued quickly. "But at the end of the day, four others could have ended up in our positions, four others could have done what we have done, and four others could be sitting here, discussing what we're discussing right now."

Ren and Nora were particularly affected. I resisted the urge to tell her that it was very unlikely that anybody could do what I did - Velvet was proof enough that I was wrong.

"But it _is_ us. We were given the opportunity to unlock our Aura, to train and discover our Semblances. We became strong enough to make it to Beacon." Her voice caught. "Now we're strong enough to leave it behind." _I hope_ went unsaid. "It doesn't make us inherently special. What we decide to do from here on out is what makes us who we are, and what image those that follow you will be agreeing to bear."

"Just because we aren't in that school anymore doesn't mean we won't still try to do good things. It just means that if we have to do bad things for good reasons, we can. It means we won't have anyone telling us what to and not to do while we try to do good. That doesn't stop any one of you from being a hero. It will just be harder." The word 'hero' always left a sour taste in my mouth. A ring on the door had saved me. I did not know what I was going to tell them next.

A glance at my TV showed me that it was Ruby, and Weiss surprisingly. Ruby was wearing a backpack.

"Come in!" My front door unlocked and swung open courtesy of the new motor I had hooked up to my apartment. There was a ridiculous amount of things you could do with your voice if you bought the right things. Ruby strolled right on in while Weiss peeked around the corner of the door, looking for someone and raising a finger as if to question, before huffing and strutting in. With 6 in here, it was starting to get a little bit cramped.

I leaned over the back of the couch so I could see the door and waved them over, standing and offering my seat. It appeared that the meeting was on hold anyways.

"Cool door, Torga!"

Weiss' head turned around to watch as the piston slowly let my door back into place with a gentle click as it locked. She looked slightly uneasy at that.

"Thanks." I got off the couch, offering my seat. "Want some hot chocolate?"

Five minutes later, myself and Ren were standing in front of the balcony as the girls sat and talked about classes and teachers. I felt sort of left out, but in the way a leader feels apart from his troops. Not left out, but separated. I shook my head to get that thought out of my head. This was not war, not yet. I was glad I had the allies I did though, especially with the directions I'd seen them growing in.

"Thank you for coming back." I muttered to him.

"You couldn't handle Nora." He said by way of explanation. We both knew there was more to it than just that, but we left it unsaid, something I appreciated more than any words. Ren is remarkably similar to some of the men I'd fought and bled with, and it reassured me where I didn't realize I needed reassurance. Calm and surety, two qualities I'll take over drive and focus any day.

I burst out laughing as Ruby pulled a miniature dog out of her backpack, who proceeded to let out a yip. Pyrrha and Nora lost all semblances of the crushing warriors I fought beside and broke down, squeezing over it in the way old crones crooned over their grandchildren. Ren moved over to stop Nora from squishing it in a hug as I shook my head and poured water out of the whistling kettle into two mugs. Soon Ruby and Weiss had their drinks.

I turned to Weiss, who hadn't said a word to anybody other than the dog since she'd arrived. "So to what do I owe the pleasure?" I made sure to make eye contact so that she knew I was asking _her_.

"If you must know, I'm just here to keep Ruby company."

I turned my head to the mentioned Huntress, and before she could open her mouth, I walked over and pulled her into a hug. She protested weakly, but I let go quickly. "Thank you for the weapon, Ruby. It's a work of art."

"Well I figured-"

I held up a hand to stop the tirade of exactly why she had made it. I had a pretty good idea. "Thank you."

"...you're welcome." She looked around awkwardly for a second before something came to her.

"Wanna look after Zwei while we're gone?" Ruby held her dog in outstretched arms, reminding me again of her strength as her arms did not waver. The dog cocked its head and stuck out its tongue playfully. I bared my teeth, uttering a low growl. To a canine, this would be a challenge. To Zwei, it just made him cock his head the other way and bark. I chuckled at the odd looks I was getting, not bothering with an explanation.

"How long?"

"We… don't really know. All we were told is that we leave at 8 AM tomorrow for Mountain Glenn, for Grimm extermination. What about you guys?"

 _Mountain Glenn..._ I thought to myself as Nora explained their team's mission. Unsurprising, considering she had chosen it. They would be heading up north to help a Huntsman solve some sort of issue.

Mountain Glenn was one of the things I'd learned about that told me the Huntsman system didn't work. It _was_ a tragic story. A failed attempt at expansion, thousands upon thousands killed. Yet, there were not enough Grimm to overcome Vale, due to the walls.

I didn't understand how Mountain Glenn had fallen. The people had the advantage in numbers, weapons, intelligence, and terrain, yet still could do nothing but die and flee. It was sickening. The official reason?

 _Not enough Hunter support to reliably push back Grimm for a sufficient amount of time._

Whether that was because they weren't assigned to that mission, or were busy, or sitting on their asses with a thumb in their mouth at home, I didn't know. I _did_ know that one-on-one, most of Skyrim's youth could take on a wolf. There's no reason that civilians in Vale shouldn't have been able to hold back the Grimm, besides for the one I kept drawing back to Ozpin.

All Huntsmen and Huntresses were under his control. Ozpin was the single most powerful man I'd ever met, simply because of the force at his disposal. Take Ozpin and any that would follow him and pit that group against the Empire, even in their prime, the Empire would be exterminated. Hell, given the opportunity to go back with my current strength, I was certain that instead of brokering a ceasefire I could have just defeated the Stormcloaks and the Empire and declared _myself_ High King. A grin spread across my face as visions of Nords with Aura stormed the Summerset Isles with hammers the size of anvils.

"Torga?"

I looked around quickly. "Hm?"

"Thank you for your… Hospitality." Weiss said from where she and Ruby stood near the door. Odd, I had thought they would stay longer. Also odd that I was too caught up and didn't see them move.

"Any time." I replied absent-mindedly. "Have fun."

"We will!" Ruby waved as my door opened itself for her. I turned to my team to see Pyrrha also getting up. Nora and Ren shared a look.

"We should be going too." The redhead said, walking past me and into my entryway.

"Got some training to do?"

"No." Pyrrha replied. "Research and relaxation. Beacon's got a huge library, it couldn't hurt to sign out a couple of books."

A memory came back to me in that moment and I all but pushed my team out the door, preparing to dive off of my balcony to get to the street and take off for my destination.

Then I realized how much money I had spent to ensure I wouldn't have to do that, and called up Richard instead.

He answered, with the sounds of laughter and clinking cutlery briefly making it through his scroll before the background-noise filter kicked in. "Hello?"

"What's up, Richard?"

"Eating with my family, can I call you back?" I opened my mouth to rush him, then thought better of it.

"Take your time." I hung up without waiting for a response. Now it was just myself, an inquisitive pup, and a stack of canned dog food I had somehow not noticed. "What to do with you…."

I scratched my stubble in thought. "You trained?"

He barked once.

"Good. If we go out, will you run away?"

The dog actually _shook its head_ then barked again.

"Fucking crazy…." I muttered, equipping shoes and locking the leash around his neck. I got a sad, puppy-dog look for that, but I didn't relent.

"Alright, pup. Let's go for a walk, then." At the sound of the word _walk_ , he did as dogs are wont to do, and started scrabbling at the door.

"Heading out!" I called to nothing in particular. My door unlocked at the verbal command, swinging open and pushing Zwei back. I cut myself off mid chuckle as, appearing from a hole the size of a pin and swelling to fill the space in less time than I could even comprehend. I was lucky my eyes had jumped right to the pin sized hole, this odd thing that was not attached to anything but _had no other side and it was there and-_

The hole disappeared with a little _pop_ as if someone had popped a balloon two rooftops away. I was left with nothing to look at but the mundane brown robes of Jakkins Turner.

With a wave of his hand, my dog disappeared, and with another I found myself at my table with a cup of coffee in my hands.

The mug got thrown to the ground, shattering the cup as I leapt back from my table, glancing over at my closed door and back to Jak who was sitting calmly, cradling a cup at a small table that had never been in my apartment.

"What the _fuck!_ " Those words summed up my mental state perfectly. Gamer's Mind brought me down quick, but my heart was still pounding. "What in _Oblivion_ did you do?! Why are you even here?! Fuck off!" I continued ranting and cursing long after I had calmed, but Jak just sat there, tea cupped in a hand and the other resting on his chin.

Eventually, I glanced down at the mess of beverage and fired ceramic on my floor, cursed again, and bent low to pick up the pieces. Jak waved his hand. ' _Prestidigitation'._ He mumbled, though I couldn't prove it; My head was under the table and out of his sight.

The mess vanished. "Are you done?" Jak muttered.

I very nearly punched him, but I remembered what had happened last time. With a growl, I took my seat - _my fucking chair-_ and glared at him. "What. Why."

"Teleportation, Time manipulation, and a little bit of enchantment. Mostly for fun. Can we get to the point now?" The bastard was grinning, which nearly set me off again.

Besides the horrifying realization of underestimating someone I had thought I was already _over_ -estimated, I was calming. I wiped my face of emotion, something I'd learned to do in the early days of my adventuring career. "Talk."

He raised an eyebrow. "You know, I'd think you'd be a bit more hospitable to the man who both broke into and bought you your home." He did glance around. "Arthur talked you into the entertainment system, I see."

I remained silent, a classic tactic to make the other person continue explaining.

Jak burst out laughing. "Idiot. Social and political tactics don't work on a mind-reader. I can tell you're losing patience, though. Fine. I'm only here to give you a little bit of advice: Ozpin knows exactly where you are. You aren't hidden. Now, your new garage -which is a piece of garbage, by the way- I managed to keep out of the hands of his data analysts. You're welcome."

"Where's the pup?" I asked, processing this new information. If Ozpin knew where I was, and I wasn't being Hunted… Why? Why send a- I cut my thoughts off, wary of the mind-reader before me.

Jak raised an eyebrow under the lip of his hood. "Not too shabby. I was wondering where you were going with that but I guess I'll just find out later. Of course, I could trap you in a windowless box until you had the thought yourself and then violently tear it from your mind, but I won't do that. Your mutt's on your balcony. Where'd you get a Hunting dog?"

"I'm looking after it."

"Great job you're doing."

"Thanks." I responded, teeth still grit together. "Is there anything about me you don't know?"

"Why would I answer _that?_ " He chuckled again, and with a snap of his fingers was gone, leaving me with one less cup, and a small dog scratching at my window to get back in.

I had to leave Vale. There were too many players, too many pieces, too much moving right now for me to understand. I needed INT, which would only be found at my school… unless…

O

"Shh, boy." I mumbled, atop my building I had chosen. I was within the city of Mountain Glenn, and while I had been set upon by a few Beowolves, I still hadn't gotten to really try out my new sword-thing. It was almost criminal, carrying such an incredible, versatile weapon and not knowing how to properly use it. My Longsword Mastery kicked in when I had the weapon in that form, but I was out of luck for the others.

We were stalking a pack of Beowolves, who seemed to be sniffing around but heading in a certain direction. That was odd, I had found, and so I had followed. Team RWBY should be somewhere in this city, which would draw Grimm if they were negative. The only one I could think of as being actively negative was Blake, so another part of me thought that a civilian could be in trouble. Part of me wanted to leave this hypothetical civilian to his fate, but he would die and nobody would see it so that's a terrible way to make a point.

So, Zwei and I followed. We kept to the rooftops, and Zwei seemed to actively enjoy Featherweight when I used it on us.

Safe from mind-readers once more -I shuddered that I would now need to find a way to prevent that from happening again- I spoke to Zwei. It was easier for me to reach conclusions when I was speaking to an advisor, and the pup would have to do.

"So, friend, it would seem we're in a bit of a puddle. Ozpin wants to- No, that's not right. Jak's team _told_ me that Ozpin wanted to 'get rid of me', for some obscure reason. I need to entertain the possibility that they weren't telling the truth." I kicked a piece of rubble, sending it skittering across the third story roof. "The best thing to do would be get a hold of Ozpin, and figure all this out. Assuming that _he_ would tell me the truth. What I wouldn't give to have an Illusion mage with me right now…" I was startled by a noise in my right ear.

"How's it going down there?" A gravelly voice came through the 'earpiece' that Richard had bought for me. He'd gotten a set for the whole team, stating that the Huntsmen reliance on scrolls was 'idiotic'. He'd tried to explain short-range radio to me, but the technicality of it passed over my head.

I pushed the button that was on the awkward black collar I wore. "Just following a pack of Beo's. They're tracking something, I'm going to find out what. How's the ship?"

"Could use a TV or something, this is a lot of waiting." The sound of something clattering came over the earpiece. "Damn, one second." I heard the hiss of the door sliding open, the loud _crack_ of a firearm, then the hiss again. "Stupid Nevermore's. Check in in 30 minutes, okay?"

"Will do. Dovah out." I replied, pushing past the awkwardness of radio-speak. I idly set a timer for half of an hour on my scroll, setting it to vibrate so I wouldn't draw attention.

A growl by my ankles caught my attention. The pack was moving on, but something odd was happening, and Zwei was as put off by it as I was.

The last Beowolf in the pack wasn't following, no, it was staring straight at me. I knelt down and put a hand on Zwei's head to calm him, keeping eye contact with the Grimm. I didn't feel anything particularly negative, but this wolf was allowing itself to be separated from the pack.

I entertained the idea of running over and cutting it down, then resolved myself to only do so if it acted violently. If I attack one, then the fight would draw the rest of the pack at least. Still not an issue, but when there's one pack of Grimm, there's others around and I didn't want to risk getting into a running fight among these buildings.

The Grimm shook its head, then ran off to join the others.

"Hm." I was perplexed by its behaviour, which is why I followed it. That, and it would be stupid to stop after I'd already been tracking the pack it was with. Scooping Zwei under my arm, I leapt to the next building and continued following.

Mountain Glenn was not quite in complete ruin, but many of the buildings were crumbling. The place was not fit for residence, which is why when I saw one of my targets get it's head blown off, I was initially shocked. It sprung the rest of the pack, though, and they took off down a perpendicular street. I reached the building on the corner.

I had finally found team RWBY, it seems. They were accompanied by… Professor Oobleck? That man's a combatant? I shook my head in surprise and ducked down, setting down Zwei. They were a few blocks away, far enough that I needn't worry about being spotted. I had no idea _why_ I didn't want to get spotted but-

"Long time no see, Mr. Arc."

I jumped and scrambled to pull my sword out wheeling around to see said Professor standing on the roof with his ever-present drink holder. Upon seeing him I stopped my draw, though my hand stayed on the hilt and my fingers were ready to press any of the buttons I needed to.

"Not hardly," I replied, letting the Gamer's Mind cool me down yet again, "It's been what, a month maybe?"

"Around there." He took a sip from his drink, and with barely a blink he had converted his drink holder into a very large mace. Almost looked like a club. A club with a hole in the end that was pointing right into my face. Down the hole, I could see the swirling, glowing energy of Red Dust, meaning he had a means to incinerate me in an instant. I could do the same to him, but the speed and precision with which he handled his weapon reminded me that this man is a trained Huntsman and so not to be fucked with. "Might I ask why you are here? This is no place for a child to go alone."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm out here gardening, Professor, what does it look like?"

In another blink, a burning blaze of heat pushed into my face as a fireball was held in the air in front of his weapon. "Clearly." The man had lost his intellectually jovial nature, it seemed. "I meant, why are you stalking my students? Ozpin said you had left the city."

My hand tightened around the sword. I really did _not_ want to get into a fight with him, but I wouldn't be burned to death, oh no.

"Ms. Rose left me with her dog." I lied. "I ran out of food and needed to ask her where to buy more."

"Bad answer, Mr. Arc. Try again."

I gritted my teeth. "Ozpin recruited me as a sort of security guard to watch over them."

He outright laughed. "Really? Ozpin said that you were to be captured on sight, Mr. Arc. Why might he tell his staff to do something like _that_ I wonder..? Certainly not to recruit him. Unless you had already been captured since the time we left Beacon. I'll admit, it is not impossible, but unlikely. One more try for talking, and then we move on to other options." _Violence_ , the word he left unsaid.

I thought for a moment, putting together my story. "I needed to get out of Vale. This place is relatively safe compared to the forests, so long as I stick to the rooftops. I needed to leave because I was being stalked. Then I remembered that Ruby and her team were coming out here, and for lack of better things to do, I came out to do a little bit of watching. They are the team of their year, right? Well, if I can't go back to Beacon to learn about Grimm, then I'll have to learn from observing those who have."

"Pursuit of knowledge. That is something I can find myself relating to. However, who's stalking you?"

"Were you around when Team MRAJ was in Beacon?"

Oobleck scowled and retracted his weapon into the drink holder. "If they've taken an interest in you…" His eyes lit up. "When's the last time you saw Mr. Turner?"

"Who?"

"Jak."

I shrugged. "Few hours ago, why?"

"Because, he's an international criminal."

"So? He hasn't done anything to me. Catching criminals is the job of the guards, or whatever you call them here."

"Police, and Huntsman." He shot out, answering my question on instinct. "So, just to get this straight: You were frightened at the prospect of criminals coming after you and had to escape the city. You came here to Hunt Grimm, and to see a Huntsman in action. You're hoping to learn more, despite having dropped out of Beaco-"

"I didn't drop out, I was kidnapped and told Ozpin was looking to kill me."

"Jak says that to everyone. He's not a fan of the Huntsman program. He says that from the moment you walk through those doors, Ozpin is trying to kill you." Oobleck rubbed his forehead. "We can bring you back and get this all sorted out."

My hand tightened around the hilt of my sword and I pulled the entire contraption off my belt. I didn't point it at him, just held it by my side. "You still have a mission to do, if I'm not mistaken. As do I."

"And that would be?"

"Kill Grimm." I replied, as if it were obvious. Which, to be fair, it should have been. "That, and get a few workouts in."

"We're investigating the area, as well as killing Grimm. You're welcome to travel with us. I'd feel safer if I could keep you in my sight. Besides, I think your cover might be blown anyways."

My eyes shot wide and looked around, with Zwei nowhere to be found. Small _yips_ echoed through the street as I realized that the pup probably smelled Ruby and went to her.

I grit my teeth. "Sure."

The team of women was not happy to see a guy their age show up, surprisingly. Ruby was, but Blake just looked tired and Weiss had on her usual haughty air. Yang, well she appeared to be deep in thought, and didn't do much other than wave.

And so I found myself strolling through the ruined streets of a desolate city, occasionally dispatching a Grimm or two while Oobleck looked at seemingly indiscernible cracks in the walls and piles of rubble in the streets. The girls got tired, eventually. It wasn't due to a difficult fight, but the Grimm had kept coming all day and I was sure that none of them had fought for anywhere close to an hour. Hells, the entrance exam was probably the most harrowing experience they went through, and all they had to deal with was a giant bird and a scorpion-thing.

Two conversations of note occured before we stopped for the night. The first was one of the only actual conversations I had with Blake.

Bored and looking to mess with someone, I had walked up alongside her, grabbed her arm, and yelled "Ahh!"

She didn't react, giving me a glare and turning back to staring down. I raised an eyebrow. "Who put a bee in your bonnet?"

"None of your business. Why are you even here?"

"Well, when a woman and a man love each other ver-"

She huffed in disgust and turned her head away.

"Seriously though, what's bugging you?"

She wheeled around. "Take a good look around you, and maybe you'll figure it out." She stormed off, her shoes clacking against the ground as she did so. She didn't go far, just a bit ahead of the group. I used Featherweight and jumped over her, coming down lightly in front.

"Ruined city, lots of people died, is that it?"

"How are you so callous about this? An entire _city_ was killed!"

"I know."

"Thousands of people, dead!"

"Yep." I grinned.

"Do you even _have_ a heart?"

I shrugged, pulled a dagger out of my inventory and stabbed where my heart would be. Pulling it out and seeing no damage, and only a very light dent in my HP, I grinned again. "It would seem like I don't."

Her eyes were wide and her bow had flapped back. "Wha… How… What is _wrong_ with you?!"

"It's a long list, my feline friend, too long for the amount of daylight we have left."

Her jaw shut and eyes narrowed. "Just… Stay away from me. I know Ruby likes you, which I can't see any reason for, but that doesn't mean I have to."

"Since when was I trying to get you to like me? I just want to know what's wrong so we can fix it and you can stop pulling in more and more Grimm. I might be able to but your team can't fight all night."

Her eyes went wide again as the sharp _crack_ of Ruby's rifle rang out. She was a very facially expressive person, I found. Blake, that is, not so much Ruby. That's why when her face turned to a grimace, I knew she had finally realized I was right.

"I'll deal with it." She muttered, then walked further away, shooting down a street as she did so.

Ruby tapped my shoulder. "Could you ah… not stab yourself again?"

"Sure. Just trying to get Blake out of her head."

Yang strutted past to catch up with her. "Watch and learn, old man."

I spluttered in indignation. _Old?_ I mean, technically yes, but that was no reason to-

Oh. I grinned. Yang had this handled.

My second Conversation was with the Professor. He had taken each of the girls aside to ask them why they decided to become Huntresses. Now, it seemed it was my turn.

"Why did you come to Remnant, Torga?"

"I was bored."

He lifted an eyebrow and motioned for me to elaborate.

"I'd told you about the Dovahdein, right? My mercenaries?"

"You'd mentioned something of the sort, yes."

I sighed. "Well, they got too good. I originally formed it as a way for instant backup and a stream of income. Then they got better and better until I could send one to three men and have the issue solved almost overnight. I didn't have to go out anymore. There was no prophecies left for my time, there were no fabled enemies left in my country, there were no more bandits anywhere close to us. We had done our jobs too well, and as the leader of said company, I should have been immensely proud, satisfied, and taken my fortunes and retired."

"You didn't." He observed.

I gestured around. "Clearly."

"Why not? It sounds like you made your land safe and had more money than you knew what to do with."

I sighed. "I visited my mentor, Paarthurnax. A dragon. See, on my world Dragons were a myth, until they weren't. I won't go through the history of the Dragon War, but mortals were almost exterminated. All of them. Exterminated or enslaved. A few heroes rose up, learning to use the power of the dragons against them. They sealed Alduin, the World-Eater, the Mortal-Bane, in a place outside of time. I was lucky enough to be born in the era where he returned and began resurrecting his old followers. See, the dragons are in and of themselves a form of immortal. They can be killed, yes, but their souls remain with their bodies. Meaning with enough healing, they get back up right as rain. Due to their innate magical resistance, it would be impossible for a man, or most elves to do so. Alduin didn't have that problem, and used his magics to raise the dead.."

"You're saying that your dragons had souls, and they still tried to wipe you out?"

"Yes, Professor. Your world, if it works the same way, doesn't know anything about souls other than how to weaponize them. And to think you all thought _I_ was the savage."

"Comparatively, and cultur-"

"Yes, I know, we're behind. I've been thinking about that actually. I believe Magic is what held us back. The dwemer ruins are full of technological wonders, and they vehemently opposed magic in almost all of its forms."

"Right. Alduin?"

"Well, I'm a special case. Every so often, and I'm talking _maybe_ every few generations, the mortal races give birth to one blessed by Akatosh, one that is called the Dragonborn. I was one of these. When I killed a dragon, I absorbed it's soul and merged it with my own to become more powerful. I was the only one that could permanently kill a dragon. Because my soul was so influenced, I could not stop. I craved violence, I was greedy, I became more like that which I killed. No greater rush did I feel than the one that came from slaying one of those foul creatures, and I had killed them all. See, in the original Dragon War, the Dragonborn of the time had spent his life killing _all_ of the female dragons, then travelled to the land of the Aldmeri to die in combat. One very powerful Nord against the Summerset Isles. Would you believe that he almost made it to the capital before the elves managed to open a volcano around him, dropping him deep into the earth?"

"Why would he do such a thing?"

I smirked. "We must die in combat to go to Sovngarde, our eternal resting place. Anyways, what this meant was that I only had a set number of dragons I could kill. I killed them all, save for one. He slowly fell to hating me. I had no goal anymore, no purpose. Do you have any idea what it is like to have a fate ordained by the Divines, to complete that fate, and then… nothing. The drive was still there, but was directionless. Now, I have a direction again, a seemingly impossible enemy to overcome, and the ability to become even more powerful than before. So why did I come to Remnant? Boredom. But I stayed to fight, and defeat my enemies. Maybe make a couple of allies along the way, who knows?"

"A valid reason, though an unsettling one."

A sigh escaped my lips. "I thought you would think so. This land doesn't have much in the way of battle-lust."

I had to quickly end the conversation, as Richard was trying to get a hold of me. With a muttered excuse of 'getting the high ground to scout', I leapt atop a building, staggering slightly when I knocked part of it loose.

"Tooooooooorgggaaaaa, where aaaarrrreeee you?"

I shivered at his sing-song tone. "I found a few Huntresses, I'm gonna stick with them. You're good to go for the night, but try and be back here around mid-afternoon tomorrow to pick me up. I want to go see how my team's doing as well."

"Aye, Captain." His sarcasm was fun to endure. "You figured out how to make some money yet?"

I grimaced. I could always go back to the Forever Fall… But I didn't want to. "It's a work in progress, I'm still open to ideas, though."

Eventually, after getting off the radio and tucking the equipment into my inventory, I got some practice in with my rifle form. I ended up with another Mastery skill, which just increased the effective range and accuracy, not the damage.

I kept that up until the sun set, and Oobleck decided it was time to bunk down for the night. I took every watch, as I didn't need to sleep. I was about 4 hours into my silent training when Ruby awoke and came to sit next to me.

"Nightmare?" I asked, hands together with a shifting mass of Red Dust between them. She stared at it, then shook her head.

"Haven't slept yet. It's hard to, out here on the ground." She mumbled.

"Yea, it will be for a while." I sympathized with her. "Wanna go for a walk? We can leave Zwei on watch. It might get your mind off of whatever's bugging you."

She sighed. "Sure, let me just get him u-" Her voice turned into the harsh whisper of someone who wants to yell but still needs to stay quiet. "He's gone! Torga, we have to find him!"

I stood, now excited.

 **[Quest Alert:] Here, Boy!**

 **Help Ruby Rose find her dog! You were supposed to be looking out for him. Great job!**

 **[Main Objective:]**

 **-Find Zwei**

 **-?**

 **-?**

 **[Reward:] REP+ with Ruby Rose, 15000 XP, Skill Book: Fire of Youth!**

 **[Failure:] Zwei's death, REP- with Ruby Rose**

That was enough XP to level up, _and_ a new skill too!

"Grab your things." I whispered as I accepted the quest. "We'll find him."

* * *

 **A/N: My house flooded and my laptop was a victim. This chapter was written and painstakingly edited in mobile. Please have patience while I try to get my situation figured out.**

 **For any who don't like the direction I'm taking, and the lack of reason behind certain character's actions, realize that this story is mostly from the perspective of Torga. Meaning, you know what he knows. As for leaving Beacon... Well, that's a big old political shitstorm happening behind the scene. Have some faith.**

 **Keep it real,**

 **~HHR**


	21. Chapter 20: Zwei, Slow Down!

Ruby was distressed.

She was borderline manic, rushing from each pile of the rubble and calling Zwei's name. We found the pup after a couple minutes of frantic, stealthy searching though he was in quite the situation as a couple of Beowolves were stalking him while he pranced around, sniffing what he could. He appeared oblivious to us, which was fine by me as so too were the Beowolves.

"Left or Right?" I whispered.

"Both!" Ruby lined up her rifle to start shooting with a flourish, and without thinking I stuck my finger into the trigger guard, blocking her from pulling it and putting our hands in awkward contact. She-

 _Divines, is she blushing? That had better just be anger over her pup._

"No guns, it would draw too many of them." I whispered furiously, withdrawing my finger. Good thing, too, if she had wanted, she could have broken the appendage with a twist and flick of her weapon. Not permanently - I shuddered at that thought again - but it would still hurt.

"Then what do we do?" Ruby said pleadingly. "Most of my styles depends on counter-force."

"Does all of it?"

"No, but-"

"Then no guns. Clear?"

She pouted, and had she been of an animalistic race I'd imagine her tail would be either fluffed out or flicking back and forth with annoyance. In that way, I preferred being friends with Khajiit. At least they had to be good at lying before it ever even worked, which stopped a lot from trying despite their reputation as rogues and thieves. Something to ask Oobleck about, whether faunus have the same animalistic mannerisms.

She did not, however, vocalize her agreement. "Fine, but if we don't kill them both at the same time, then the fight will also draw more."

I frowned. "I'll do it then."

I equipped my Nevermore equipment, feeling my being shudder as it adopted the dark properties. Two Boar's Tooth's came out of my inventory. I didn't put my as-of-yet unnamed weapon away, that stayed in its sheath. Just, after last time with that Zweihander… New techniques call for disposable weapons.

With my bonuses as they now were, I leaped into the air, reaching the top of the buildings as Featherweight ran out of time. Scarcely touching the roof, I pushed off again, going ever higher. When I reached the apex of my second jump, I donned the mask.

My vision narrowed and I could see the individual strands of midnight black hair that made up the flesh of a Beowolf. I could see as if it were the middle of the day, the Grimm alite as if I had just used Aura Whisper. As I began to fall, I let loose with both swords, throwing them one after the other with all my might.

The first whistled through the air, end over end, and slammed into the left one first hilt-first, to my dismay. Recalling I'd never thrown a weapon straight down before, I quickly lost all blame I had put on myself.

Besides, the second sword speared so hard through its target that it went halfway up to the hilt into the street after piercing through its bone-mask. Needless to say, it was killed instantly.

The other was frantically looking around, sniffing, and I prepared to throw another sword before Zwei himself charged the thing, clamping down on its tail. My eyes widened; A dog would last no time at all to a Grimm!

I threw my arms out behind me and fired off Flamethrower, sending myself plunging towards the ground. As the pavement rushed up to meet me, I tucked in my legs, angled my arms, and managed to flip myself over to slam into the wolf-like beast with all the force of a cannonball. In fact,

 **Through pulling a risky move, you've unlocked the skill Divebomb!**

 **Divebomb (Active, Cost 50 AP) Lvl: 1**

 **Attacking from a height advantage, you can make a bodily attack with the power of gravity on your side. On impact, you release that energy, crushing everything around you.**

 **100% increase in personal gravity when attacking from above**

 **25% AoE damage**

 **Radius: 1m per level**

The result of this was messy. The Grimm frankly _splattered_ for lack of better term, and I fell through the street as it too shattered. I fell through a dark cave for but a moment before hitting the bottom of that and crumpling to the ground. From the cracks I heard, my legs would have been broken. With how much AP I'd spent on my leap and subsequent fall, it seemed that there wasn't enough to absorb the fall. Technically, my legs _were_ broken for a brief second until the Gamer's Body kicked in.

I still felt the pain for that brief second. The feeling of both of my legs shattering, the phantom pangs of agony as my would-be leg bones speared through the flesh, and then… nothing.. I'm not proud of it, but I lost consciousness during that time. Wether it was a status effect, or just the largest amount of pain I'd felt in this body that was so unused to it, I'll never know.

When I woke, nothing but curses ran through my mind.

I was gagged.

I was _gagged._

That mean there were people down here somewhere, and that they knew what I could do with my Voice. _How?_

I growled in discontent. A squeak from beside me and I saw Ruby was… Tied up? My heart dropped as much as it could before the damn Mind activated. That's when I noticed I was also bound.

It says much about a man that he would notice the gag before the bindings.

I glanced around, taking stock of where we were. Atop a ruined building, but… there were no stars. _Underground then._ Then I saw all the other buildings, and the large railway running through the middle. On one end of the chamber lay a tunnel.

"Oh goody, you're done your nap!" A familiar voice said with gleeful sarcasm, before a felt a boot plant into my back above my tied-together wrists. My eyes went wide as I went forwards and off the edge of the building. Bound as I was, I couldn't reorient myself nearly enough to land properly. I didn't even think hard enough to activate Featherweight which really threw me for a loop.

The dusty ground rushed up to meet me as my shoulder hit it with a wet _crack_. I screamed through the dirty cloth, bouncing once and rolling to a stop. I could see an indent in the ground where I had hit.

I began to knash my teeth, trying to work through the material in my mouth but I was making no progress.

My heart dropped as I heard Ruby also shout out in terror, and attempted to roll over to where I thought she would land.

I _missed._

She also hit the ground, bouncing once as her Aura shimmered and faded. She lay motionless, and I felt rage take over for a few seconds as a small trickle of blood crawled down her face..

Roman Torchwick - for that was who it was - jumped down himself, one hand using a rope that extended the height of the building to slow his descent. My fingers fumbled with the bindings on my own arms to no avail, so when he came over to kick me with a sadistic charm on his face, all I could do was clench my muscles as a kick impacted my stomach, sending me rolling. My HP was down to about 4/5ths, and quickly regenerating.

"Resilient one, aren't you? I've got _just_ the thing for that." In the whirling, spinning mass of dark colours that was my vision as I bounced across an uneven concrete floor, I caught glimpse of a red projectile before it slammed into my back.

I caught the same shoulder on one of the tracks, but the pain wasn't nearly as bad as falling off of the building was. I was holding onto consciousness this time, at least.

"Tie them up real tight, and throw them on the train. How about… Fourth last car?"

Train? What trai- oh. That train. It was at the end of the tunnel. I resolved to make myself dead weight, out of spite.

I stayed limp as a couple of nameless goons struggled to lift me. I did manage to take some pleasure in it, before realizing that they were wearing the same uniforms those idiots at the port were wearing.

 _The White Fang._

Something didn't add up here, at all. I puzzled over it as I was dragged across the rough floor alongside Ruby. I was dragged by my legs, though they had at least enough respect to drag Ruby by the arms. Even criminals wouldn't put a girl in a skirt into an awkward situation, it seems.

I tried to mumble something through the gag.

"What? Couldn't understand you big fella." Goon One, my current method of transport, stopped, reaching down to yank down the cloth. I briefly held out hope that they could be this stupid, but Goon Two slapped his hand away.

"Idiot, when the boss says to _tie them up tighter_ , what makes you think it's a good idea to start uniting them?"

"Take it easy, Charlie, I was just curious." Goon One said, rubbing his hand where it was slapped. _Auraless, then._ "Besides, what's he gonna do? Bite me?"

"Uh hello? Don't you remember that show that came on for like a month? _He's the guy that was breathing fire._ "

Goon One had the decency to look disturbed, glancing between my gag and his slightly red hand. "How would I remember that? You know I'm a curious soul, but things don't stick sometimes, you know?"

"Oh, trust me, I _know_. Now, how about a bit more of the shutting up and dragging?" Charlie, if that was his real name, chastised.

My captor huffed and dragged another couple steps, muttering under his breath.

"I heard that Allen." Charlie sang. That's when I noticed the mouse ears poking through his hood. _Note to Torga, remember that faunus can hear better than you can._

I felt a jolt as my feet hit the ground, being dropped abruptly as Allen whipped around in indignation. "You know what? No! I've had enough of your shit. Carry them yourself!"

Charlie let Ruby down, much more gently than I had been, then stood in front of Allen. " _My_ shit? This whole gang business was your idea!"

" _You're_ the one that got us kicked out of Menagerie! I could have been a Doctor, and now I'm dragging kids through abandoned subway stations. Mom was right about you."

"Mom hasn't been sober since her wedding!" Charlie exclaimed, as a wet feeling brushed across my hand. I fought the urge to flinch. Our 'escort' was still arguing, so I chanced a glance.

 _ZWEI?_ How in… What?

He licked my hand, glanced at Ruby with a quiet whimper, then nudged me.

 _I know, buddy, but I'm all tied up here._ I tried to communicate with facial expressions, and tugging at my hand-bindings. He began chewing on them, not very accurately as I felt the occasional scrape and single points of HP go down, but by this point I was back to full so such small losses were meaningless.

"That was _one_ time!" Charlie protested, to _what_ I did not know.

"That's not what the nuns told the village!"

"Wait, you're counting them as a group? Okay, maybe it was a _bit_ more than one time."

"And the mail-woman."

"You know that wasn't what it seemed like."

"And the waitress."

"What, she was cute!"

"The _Judge."_

Charlie held up his hands at that one. "She came onto _me._ "

"With 8 charges of negligent parenting, I find that hard to believe."

"Believe what you want, _I'm_ the one who got it down to one."

"No, Charlie, that would be the lawyer you blew all of our money on. After which you _still_ fled the country, so I don't know why you even bothered."

"I didn't think the lawyer would actually lose!"

"She _didn't, you went fro-"_

I tuned out their bickering, checking on Zwei's progress.

There was none, as the pooch was gone. _Traitor…_

A sharp crack roused me from my ruminations on the various punishments for the traitorous pup, as Charlie punched Allen in the mouth. They began scuffing, as children do back home.

Seizing the opportunity to access my inventory, I started yanking things out, desperately trying to find what I wanted righ- there!

Slowly, I drew the Ice Dust into my system.

Sadly, I forgot the skill 'Dust Eater' said 'Two types of Basic or one Lesser'; I also forgot that Ice Dust was Lesser. My final, most idiotic mistake, was not realizing that while I had put the Red Dust I was working with earlier into my Inventory, I still had some Blue left over, just sitting there in case I needed it.

They interacted in a very painful way. As the more complex Ice Dust tried to enter my… Bloodstream, I think. As it entered me, it hit the Water Dust I had in me, and I could almost feel as they rushed together. I _did_ feel myself retreat inwards as the sound of rushing blood filled my ears. A numbness crept up my right hand, the one I was using, and I desperately tried to push out the Blue into my left, but as soon as the reaction began, I had lost control.

It was around that point the pain began. It felt as if icy needles were shooting out of my veins into the surrounding body, then those needles grew needles, and after that it was a savage, ice-cold pain. Never had I felt this heavy of a chill before.

My right hand seized up, finger by finger, freezing solid. My eyes went wide and I involuntarily let out a grunt of surprise and agony. The ice crept up my arm, reaching my elbow, and I knew I had to react fast before it got to my heart or I would have a hard time of things.

 _I need to get rid-argh… D… Damn, that_ stings. _How can I do this… Maybe…_

I turned on my Aura, the usual invisible shield forming around me as a wavy light blue with the twinkle of snow. Then, I used Conversion for essentially the first time.

I felt my energy drain, and the pain faded, though my HP didn't.

I cut it off for a brief second, anticipating the spike of resurging pinpoint pain, then layered on Double Strike and used it again. This time, my AP drained much faster and my-

 _Status_

Confirming it with the window, my HP was _rising._

Soon enough, my body was purged of the Blue Dust, as I converted it… back into my body? The mechanics of how that should have worked and how that did work were beyond me. Although my arm didn't thaw, the pain ceased. I still felt a chill down to my very bones, as if I would never be warm again, but it didn't hurt to _exist_ so I considered it to be a benefit. At some point, Charlie had stormed off, leaving me alone with Allen who was chattering into a short range radio while stealing nervous glances at me.

Until he was hit by an exploding fireball, and was knocked into a nearby ruin.

 _Cavalry has arrived!_ I grinned, as Yang sped around the corner, her standard purple eyes now a fearsome red. Zwei rushed along at her heels.

I breathed a sigh of relief, only now feeling the drops of cold sweat that covered my body. Now that I had time, I pulled a dagger out of my inventory and used it to start cutting through my bindings. Yang, understandably, was tending to her sister.

I freed myself in short order, then handed Yang a Potion of Healing, telling her to give it to Ruby in sips until she stopped bleeding.

"Where the hell are you going?" She spat back. "We have words to be had!"

I worked my jaw and spat onto the ground; The gag had filled my mouth with dust. "Finding the guy who did _that_ to your sister. Words can be had later."

"So, what, you're going to go fight the whole White Fang by yourself with a frozen arm?"

"That was the plan." I shrugged and turned again towards the train. "Besides, bastard kicked me off of a roof. That's _my_ move."

Her protests fell on willingly deaf ears.

* * *

 _These fools are more harmless than bandits,_ I decided as I dispatched my fourth without using skills or drawing my weapon. My arm had been _Good for labour, not so much for fighting. Why do we need anything more than police when they don't have Aura?_

A yell from behind me heralded the fifth arrival, and I sighed as he charged at me with a heavily telegraphed punch. I didn't play around with this guy, just catching the sloppy blow.

"Go home." I said sternly. "This isn't worth your life."

"Nice try, kid! We know that Hunter's don't kill."

"You sure about that?"

He had time to nod, and look shocked before his head parted from his shoulders. I wiped my blade on my clothes to clean it, then replaced it in its sheath. Phenomenal performance, for its first use. I paused for a moment, then shifted the weapon into rifle form, figuring I might as well get some practice in with it.

Unfortunately, this fifth guard, or gangster, or thug, or whatever they called themselves, would be the last one I had the chance to fight alone.

I staggered back, gunfire peppering my Aura. There were multiple people shooting from the roofs of various buildings, but considering I was so close…

I punched a hole through the rear of the train, a car I later learned was called a caboose, and found myself face to face with a large, wire covered contraption. It didn't move to attack, so I labelled it harmless cargo and proceeded to punch the next door. This car was identical, same cargo in the middle of empty space.

 _Something isn't right he-whoa!_ The train lurched, then began moving. _Where in Oblivion could we be going? This tunnel can't_ seriously _be long enough to need a train!_

I leaned over the cargo, taking a closer look. It appeared to be two holding tanks, some sort of computer, and a bunch of wires poking out in every which way. I had no idea what it could be.

Then I had to smack myself, for forgetting about one of my more important skills.

 **Observe.**

 **Chemical Bomb (Disarmed)**

 **A bomb. Further levels in Skill:Observe required for details.**

"Oh." I took a cautious step back. "Oh shit."

"Oh shit is right, Mr. Tall, Blonde, and Ugly." A voice spoke from an intercom. "Why don't you hop on off? This is an express train to hell."

"Hell... " I trailed off, waiting for Roman Torchwick, for that was who was speaking, to once again speak.

"Yes, you imbecile, hell. Eternal fire and suffering, yada-yada-yada, pitchforks and doom. Y'know, hell."

"Sounds fun. How long is the trip?" I replied absently, still looking around the train car for anything useful. "More importantly, do I need a ticket, or can I get the family and friends discount?"

I could almost _see_ the sneer in his voice. "Don't worry, children ride for free. Well, one child at leas-" The intercom cut out.

"Huh. That's weird. I guess he doesn't like me." I said to nothing in particular, seeing nothing for it but to punch through into the next cabin, where another identical bomb was waiting for me. "Alright, either these things are just easy to build, or _somebody_ has a lot of free time."

Upon closer inspection, I could see that in between the two cylinders of liquid sat a small, glowing cube, likely full of dust, and that dust glowed with a greenish-purple hue. I hadn't seen that colour before. The train lurched again, and through my trail of destruction I saw the caboose detach.

 _Why would you do something like that-_ A couple of seconds later, the train car exploded, damaging the tunnel and sending a wave of pressure my way, causing me to stagger a couple of steps back. It also served the purpose of giving the train a bit of an extra push, and not long after that, the next car detached, leaving me in the last car.

Prompt evacuation seemed like the best idea, but my only way off was into a tunnel that would be repeatedly blowing up.

The second option was to get to the front and deal with whoever was driving this thing, and/or stop them from detonating the bombs.

To be completely honest, I gave no shits about this abandoned tunnel. I just wanted a couple for myself. Just imagine, I start fighting that Goliath again, Richard drops one of those on it from the sky, and I gain levels like it's my first week again.

 _Have I been skimping on the danger lately?_ I asked myself as I punched out the wall and leapt on top of the train.

I was not alone.

Atop the car stood the rest of Team RWBY, along with Dr. Oobleck.

"Torga! You're alive! We thought you were stuck in one of the cars!"

"Ruby, I'm fine, but there's something stran-"

"No time!" The doctor shouted, pointing his club towards the front of the train as he shouted to be heard over the roaring wind. "Enemy incoming!"

Yang grinned and shot forward, sweeping the first White Fang grunt with a spinning trip and then punching _and_ shooting him in the face at the same time. The man's corpse fell through a roof hatch, even as Yang's face blanched.

I shot forward to intercept the next one who was raising a pistol at her. He managed to hit me twice before I sliced off his arm, then front kicked him off the edge. We had no time for this. "These men made their allegiance clear!" I shouted. "No time to worry about-" Rifle shots peppered my Aura for a brief second before Weiss raised an ice wall to protect me, one that Blake leapt over and I heard grunts and shouts of pain coming from the other side.

Dr. Oobleck took cover behind the wall with me, as the rest of the team did too. "Mr. Arc is correct. These men may not deserve to die, but right now they're running this train towards our city with bombs. If it can breach the end of the tunnel, all of Vale will be open to the Grimm!"

"Take a life to save a life." I stated. "If you can't, then stay in cover and let those of us who can take care of things do so. Just note that if you don't fight now… well, I don't doubt Blake's ability but do you really want to leave her to fight them alo-"

The ice wall shattered as Yang got her shit together and punched through it, eyes blazing red. Ruby and Weiss looked at each other in apprehension, then raced off to where we could see the aura-enhanced streaks of her weapon from the midst of a group of thugs.

"Doctor!" I shouted, as he went to join them. Zwei ran after his owner, which was understandable, though a piece of me felt betrayed. "How do we stop this thing?"

"Get to the front, pull the brake lever!" He shouted in his quick-fire way, then took off after the girls. As an afterthought, he turned over his shoulder. "Try to get clear the cars, I'll send one of the girls down to meet you!"

"It's getting too crowded up there anyways.." I muttered, making sure they were fine before I went below.

With a shudder, the car I was on detached, and I had to make a running leap and use Whirlwind Sprint to cross the gap. The roars of the Grimm behind us were audible, even through the rushing wind and the noise and din of the train.

As I landed, I threw a full power strike into the roof, punching a hole in that I dropped through. This car looked much different, as it was full of boxes and there was no bomb present. Part of me hoped that they had run out of bombs.

I heard clanging and the sound of a powered tool revving from the next car ahead, and rushed forward to make my way there.

The path was open. I was easily able to run through the train car.

Then I _couldn't,_ and the frilly umbrella stopping me made me _mad._

In the blink of an eye I took three strikes to the torso and one to the leg, then was thrown bodily back along the car to where I had entered.

My assailant, if you could call her that… No, I couldn't think like that anymore, Aura was too much of a game changer. She was dressed in a smart looking white jacket and pants, and had odd hair that was half one colour, half another. Pink and brown. Her eyes were the same way.

"Great, more colour coded let me guess, your name starts with a B, a W, or a P, right?" I grunted as I picked myself up off the floor.

She cocked her head, smiled, and twirled the umbrella around on her shoulder.  
Her surefire attitude was distracting, her looks were distracting, and a lesser man would have fallen for her right then.

I just really _hated_ that umbrella, for reasons unknown. The frills, the deceptive weakness… It is an odd feeling to feel hate and desire simultaneously, but not one I'm unaccustomed to.

"Nothing to say? Not even a 'You'll never get past me?'" I tried, to which I received a raised eyebrow. I drew my weapon, the Hunter's weapon, and briefly considered which form to use for this fight. Nothing too big, as I wouldn't have the space to use it properly and she could likely dodge anyways with our speed difference.

I pulled out the standard sword, leaving the shield in sheath form by my side. I needed to feel this woman ou- I had to get a hold of her c-

I needed to see how she fought. _There you go, good brain._

"So." I started, circling her as widely as I could within the confines of the car. She seemed quite content to let me, though her umbrella never stopped spinning over her shoulder. "You don't look like a faunus."

She began to grin, and I leapt forward in that moment, unleashing a flurry of blows. An overhand right, redirected, into a horizontal left which was dodged. I swung through with my momentum, shifting it into the harpoon form as I spun and sweeping along the floor. She gracefully _backflipped_ out of the way with such precision, I had no doubt she was currently in control of the fight.

I launched the harpoon as I spun the weapon once over my head, trying to hit her with a Lash. She barely moved, smacking the speeding projectile just slightly to the side and grinning as it stuck into the wall behind her. I let go as I hit the retract trigger, sending the sword flying at her. I had no time to see her dodge of deflect, as I was upping out the shield. With it held sturdy in front of me, I did what I do best.

" _ **Wuld!**_ "

I felt a satisfying impact as I collided with her, and saw the brief shimmering of a pink aura before she flipped and somehow used the maneuver to kill her momentum. My sword was firmly stuck into the wall and my shield, while still a usable weapon, could not further transform without the blade.

Her grin had departed her face, and the umbrella was folded. A dull needlepoint protruded from the tip, and as she noticed me staring, she gave a little squeeze of the handle and a spray of liquid erupted from the end. The liquid began sizzling away at the metal floor of the train, convincing me to keep my distance.

With a snarl, I flung my hand out and went through the motion of releasing a Flamethrower.

Instead, an _Ice Spike_ spell shot out of my hand, and I saw my Dust Battery deplete the slightest amount. I kicked myself for forgetting about it, resolved to check the new skill when I had the time, and began throwing Ice Spikes as fast as I could. The oddly coloured girl regained her smirk, and walked seductively towards me with half-lidded eyes, deflecting the spears of ice as if she were idly twirling her umbrella.

I grit my teeth and prepared to Shout again.

" _ **Fu-"**_

Again, in the span of a binked eye, she was in front of me, and I felt my body penetrated multiple times over, even as a burning began to spread through my veins. I had no time to react as the tip of her umbrella entered my throat _1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8- Enough!_

 **You have gained the status effect** _ **Poisoned!**_

I saw my HP drop, and then _stay where it was._ With eyes wide I tried to bash her away with my shield, but that too was just deflected out of the way and the onslaught continued. I had around 15 points of Ice Dust left, so small bits of frost began to accumulate on my armour and the ground, though it had no effect on her weapon.

Luckily I was saved by the fiery blonde of Team RWBY. Not intentionally of course, she was flung clear through the car ahead of ours and flew bodily into my opponent.

"Yang! You alright?" I called out, hoping to the Divines that I wouldn't have to fight this girl _and_ the hulking brute walking through the door with… A _chainsaw sword?_

"I'm fine! Asshole won't let me get close enough!"

I thought back to one of our classes together in Beacon. "Take a breather then go after the girl, I can deal with him." Yang was much faster than me, and every hit she took made her stronger. If she can stay away from the poison, it will easily become her victory. I, on the other hand, have _more_ than enough experience fighting sword-wielders.

The pink girl removed herself from the remains of a box as weapons clattered to the floor. Pistols, rifles… Useful things against the Grimm, or civilians, but not so much against criminals with unlocked Aura. _Ozpin, what the hell are you thinking keeping this to yourself…_

"Deal with me, can you?" The giant faunus snickered as he hefted his sword. "How do you plan on doing that, blocking me to death?"

"Something like that, I guess." I answered, putting my shield back at my side and bringing out a Boar's Tooth. I had something like three of them left, as they'd been much harder to make after I lost access to the Omni-Foundry at Beacon.

"Fancy trick. I've always wanted to kill a Huntsman. I guess a little runt like you will have to do!"

With that, the battle kicked off.

* * *

Put simply, the woman was out of our league. Maybe with her own team-mates and being able to use their coordination, Yang could have stopped her. As it stood, the woman and the White Fang Lieutenant, for that's what he was, were a formidable team. He would keep Yang busy, and the woman would riddle me with holes. Every attempt to get past her ended up with me on the floor and taking more damage. I'd already had to chug back a health potion, leaving me with only one left.

When it was me against the brute, though, that was a different story. He was strong, and decently fast… But I was able to outright block his hits once I had gotten the other part of my weapon back. I resolved not to lose it again. The white blade was in its greatsword form, and I was thoroughly enjoying this part of the fight.

"Just… let… me.. hit… you!" Each word was backed up by a savage blow, though very untechnical ones. Overhand left, overhand right, stab, spin-slash, stab. A basic offensive combo that even a boy without a teacher would eventually teach himself. Luckily, I had a few teachers in my day that tore apart that very same self-learned combo like a stone through wet parchment.

So counter it I did. I ducked under the first and spun low under the second, pivoting and spinning back to avoid the thrust. When he began his spin, I strafed to end up to his right when he let out the final stab, and from there it was as simple as shifting my blade to serrated and dragging it along the backs of his legs. As the first intended and true hit I'd landed on him, it would have benefitted from my Ice Aura, had the woman not stabbed me enough times to deplete it. I was Dust-less at the moment, and it showed when instead of hamstringing the fellow, it just tripped him.

With a _Snake_ flourish, I whipped my blade around and stabbed it down into his arm. _This_ time the strike was true, and pierced right through his Aura, arm, and a good portion of the floor. To ensure he wouldn't move, I shifted the blade into Hammer form, then stepped back as he howled in pain.

"There," I answered, "That's how I'm dealing with you."

I turned to see what was happening with Yang, and received a kick to the jaw for my troubles. My HP was still not regenerating, though it was safe behind a wall of Aura Points. Which, themselves, were at around half.

 **You have levelled up! You have levelled up!**

With a grin I saw my AP and HP shoot up to full, and a second wind flow into me. Yang was floored, though breathing. It would seem I had nicked one of the Lieutenant's major veins, because he was unmoving in a pool of blood. If I could get Yang up, then we coul-

The woman frowned, then raised an eyebrow. With a blink, her eyes switched colours and then she was upon me.

I had no weapon, nothing between myself and her lightning fast needle. She seemed to be out of poison, but my AP was still dropping faster than I could manage, and I wasn't able to do more than twitch before I was struck again, and again. I was hit repeatedly, at times it felt like there was no break between strikes and she was somehow managing to hit me twice at once, until she finished off her ridiculous combo with an impressive throw that placed me prone next to Yang.

 _What do I have that I can use… 20 Status points might help me catch up with her, but it would be wasted if it didn't work so that can be a plan B. I have a shout point but I may need that later, and besides, which shout would I even go for? Dragon Aspect wouldn't help, because she's still too fast, Elemental Fury might do something, though with as much as Aura helps, I'm already operating on that level. I have a few Dust types in my inventory._

 _That's it!_

"Are you having fun yet?" I groaned out as I got to my feet.

The woman glanced at the corpse of her comrade, then scowled at me.

"Oh, I guess you don't like combat. Why fight then?"

She threw her arms out as if to gesture _Um, duh?_

"Right, right. No talking. Look, Miss Nameless Mute, there's two ways that this can g-" I received a kick to the head, then.

"Rude." I said from the ground, feeling my face where the kick had connected. I'd dropped my aura when the impact had hit, meaning I took damage to my HP but my AP was steadily rising. "I was going to try and make a deal with you."

Her steps faltered for the briefest of seconds and I took the opportunity to slowly roll onto my side, with my hands behind me. I began absorbing all of the yellow Dust I had left, and felt the tingle of electricity in the core of my being. I felt a desire- no, a _need_ \- to start moving and clamped down on it, continuing to absorb until Dust Battery read completely full. I continued talking to distract her from the relatively quiet and not very showy process. Without my Aura on, she shouldn't be able to notice a difference.

"So, I happen to be starting up a little thing. We need good fighters, and I'm certain both you and that orange-haired fellow fit the bill. We pay well, no relation to the Hunters, and all we're trying to do is beat the Grimm back into the sea. I'm on your side, in that way, because I doubt you want the Grimm to win."

An intercom blared to life. "You really _are_ a daft one, aren't you? Have you forgotten what's happening? She's mute, not bloody stupid. Neo, finish those pesky children off and get up here, I've got company."

She grinned, and in a slow protracted manner drew a deadly sharp dirk from the handle of her umbrella.

"Fuck it." I grit my teeth, activated my Aura, then absorbed Green Dust with both hands.

The reaction was infinitely immediate. Wind started whipping through the train car faster than it had before, as my skin started to crackle and pop as electricity was loosed from my body. The pain, much more deep than when I had mixed the Water and Ice Dust, was like being struck by Nora's hammer at full power on each vertebrae a thousand times a second. My back arched and I probably would have screamed if my jaw wasn't clenched shut. As quick as the pain was coming, I was dismayed to learn that the Gamer's Mind couldn't dull it.

I was no stranger to pain, though.

I forced the Dust in, I made that Dust my _bitch_ and was barely aware of the rapid levelling of my skill, Dust Battery.

 **Skill: Dust Battery has reached LVL100! Mastery Achieved!**

 **Dust Battery (Passive/Active)**

 **A skill only available to those with a predisposition towards dust, this skill allows the user to take Dust into their body to either store the Dust, or to activate it in the way of the ancients. Can absorb any 2 Basic or 1 Lesser Dust Type.**

 **Grants Dust Bar**

 **Dust Capacity 0/250**

 **Evolve Skill?**

"Y-y-y-y-eeesssss!" I shouted as loud as I could, which must have looked incredibly strange from either Yang or Neo's point of view.

Then, it all stopped.

Not just the pain, but the downward plunge of the dirk, the wracking electricity crackling from my skin, the breath coming out of my throat.

 **Skill Evolved!**

 **Skill Dust Battery has been removed! Skill Dust Factory Acquired!**

 **Dust Factory (Passive/Active) Lv1 (Cost:50 AP/Unit of Dust produced)**

 **A skill only available to those with a predisposition towards the body storage technique, this skill is the next step in the progression of the art of Ancient Dust.**

 **Dust Bars: 3**

 **Capacity: 200 (+3/level)**

 **Combination: 2 Basic, 1 Basic + 1 Lesser.**

I understand, now.

Dust Battery was never the final skill. Even inferring from this, Dust Factory isn't the final skill either, I guess I just… forced it?

My plan was to gather a Wind aura to push her back, then see if I couldn't shoot lightning at her in the same way that I used Flamethrower to create Ice Spike. I could have done this without filling up the Battery; In hindsight, my idea was stupid. Luckily I have the VIT to just shrug off the actual damage but the feeling… that, I'll be remembering.

Three bars, lit up at the top of my vision. The one on the right was depleting, the one on the left was depleting, my AP was depleting.

My HP remained where it was.

The center bar was slowly filling up with a dark green colour flecked with gold. It was at about a quarter before I ran out of either of the other kinds of Dust, but everything was still slow. The dirk was falling slowly towards my face. I could see Neo's eyes wide, frantic, but not looking towards me. No, she was changing her trajectory and moving backwards, sailing through the air at such a slow speed that I was standing before she touched the ground again. This new dust…

"Observe"

 **Acceleration Dust (Lesser)**

 **Accelerates natural processes. Useful for growing food, scientific experiments, and creating the perfect slow-cooked ribs in minutes.**

Oh-

Now I knew what to do.

My shout point went where it went, and my mind never once thought that what I was about to do would be a bad idea.

" _Tiik!"_

The world shattered around me.

* * *

 **A/N: My loyal, and occasionally not so loyal readers.**

 **Enjoy the next 7k. I'm going to be honest, getting Torga into a fight against someone clearly more skilled and faster than him has been an issue from the start. The issue with combat is that even if you're fast enough to keep up with combatant A, and Combatant C can keep up with you, doesn't mean combatant C can keep up with A. A can beat C, but not B, or C can beat B but tie with A, while B can't actually beat either of them. It's hectic.**

 **On top of that, when blades are involved, the times are measured in milliseconds. Torga is sitting pretty at abou-**

 **Actually** **, here! Have the stat block!**

Name: Torga

Age: 17

Level: 27

Race: Human

Title: Dragonborn

Status: Healthy

XP: 36.95%

HP: 2290 (2519)

AP: 737 (810)

STR: 25 (47)

VIT: 50 (94)

AGI: 14 (30)

INT: 25 (27)

WIS: 51 (56)

LUK: 10 (11)

STAT: 20

As I was saying, he's sitting at around 30 AGI.

Just for reference, let's say that Aura-less humans cap out at STR=15, VIT=20, AGI=15, INT=30, WIS=50, and LUK=100.

So, where do _you_ guys think I should put Torga's stats, and why? Keep in mind that his physical skill boosts are from Aura points, though the original skill plays more of a part than the Aura does. He could just dump INT and have massive stats. Thus, my math works to prevent that from being the best option. Shout-outs given to anyone who can decipher what boosts are having what effect on his skills, because if you can deduce that I'll let you have a character in the story. Torga will be needing recruits, after all, and I don't want to try and come up with all of them or they'll be bland I think.

Note that Acceleration Dust is _not_ the same as Time Dust. I assume ACC is like when Weiss uses her Glyphs with the clock, whereas Time is Ozpin vs. Cinder style utter and complete domination over multiple aspects. Assuming time is a railroad, Acceleration is just your throttle, whereas true Time Dust just makes it so that your train can fly and move sideways too. It won't be heavily abusable, but it will be abusable, especially now that T can make it himself with enough Wind and Electricity dust. Money issues=solved!

My own issues, as an author, are a bit more complicated. I'm going away for a month. Hiatus from publishing is gonna happen, but not from the story. Seriously, I'm already typing up the next chapter, so don't get too depressed! If it makes you feel better, every skill I've given Torga will evolve if he uses it enough, and the effects are planned. It's tough writing a game, and then a story that takes place within that game, but gods-damned I'm having a blast with this.

Remember, All the World's a Game, and all the men and women need to look out for cheaters.

Keep it wonderful, guys and gals,

~HHR


End file.
